TORONTO – The Nashville Predators were exactly what the Toronto Maple Leafs expected. In many ways, they were exactly what Randy Carlyle would like his team to be.
Patient, determined, responsible, intense and opportunistic – any or all of those adjectives summed up Nashville’s performance during a 4-2 victory at Air Canada Centre on Thursday night.
It was the kind of team effort that has become a hallmark of a franchise that always seems to be just a little bit more than the sum of its parts. Carlyle referred to it as the "Nashville Predator Way" before the game and then had to watch helplessly as the Maple Leafs struggled to combat it.
Most of Toronto’s success this season has been built on quality goaltending and outstanding special teams play. They slipped in both of those areas on this night. Two power-play goals in the second period helped Nashville build a 3-1 lead before Jonathan Bernier bobbled a harmless-looking Craig Smith shot early in the final frame and that was that.
You won’t find many instances where the Predators have squandered a three-goal lead with 15 minutes to play.
"They work hard every night and they make you earn what they give you," said Leafs defenceman Cody Franson, a former Predator. "They play a tight defensive game and it’s just tough to create stuff against a team that plays that tight. Hats off to them, they played well."
In time, that is the type of team Carlyle wants to see the Leafs become. He has recently started preaching the importance of cutting down on turnovers and couldn’t have been happy with what he saw here.
Of course, these games aren’t played in a vacuum and the Predators earned a lot of the opportunities they enjoyed. They don’t bolster anywhere near as much offensive firepower as Toronto – David Legwand and Smith are Nashville’s top-scoring players – but you would never have known it if you watched this game with no regard for the names on the back of the sweaters.
The Predators displayed a strong forecheck throughout and stuck to their gameplan even after falling behind 1-0. Eventually, they were rewarded for those efforts.
"We want to make sure every shot counts and that the right play is going to be made," said Smith, who finished with two goals and an assist. "We tracked the defencemen hard tonight and created some turnovers on the wall, which we were able to convert into some offensive chances."
It was the flattest performance the Leafs have had on home ice all season. There was very little energy in the building for a midweek visit from the Predators, who did a fairly good job of sheltering rookie goalie Marek Mazanec over the final 40 minutes.
The Czech surrendered an early goal to Peter Holland and faced some quality chances during two Toronto power plays in the first period, but was able to settle in once his teammates started tightening things up. In particular, Nashville did a good job of clearing the puck and keeping Toronto from generating any extended possession time.
"The last couple of games we’ve done a better job of coming out of our own end clean and allowing us to get in on the forecheck more and generate more offence," said Predators centre Matt Cullen, who had a four-point night for the first time in more than a decade.
Nothing out of the Leafs dressing room disputed that fact. This was a thorough loss that didn’t really merit much deconstructing from the home side.
"We just didn’t play well enough," Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf said. "I don’t think you can say much more than that. We didn’t do enough of the little things against a team that always comes hard.
"They play very disciplined to their system, they have for a long time, and we just weren’t good enough."
To get where they want to go, the Leafs will have to learn to play with a similar kind of discipline. That is part of the identity the 13-8-1 team is striving to establish.
There is still a great deal of uncertainty hovering around the Leafs – Phil Kessel is the latest player suspected to be nursing an injury, something Carlyle didn’t deny on Thursday night – and they are heading into a stretch of five games in eight days starting with a visit from Washington on Saturday night.
The coach will obviously be expecting a better performance against the Caps, although he openly questioned whether he played a role in the loss to Nashville by skating his players too hard this week.
"We were flat after the first period," Carlyle said. "We didn’t seem to have any energy, we didn’t seem to have any enthusiasm. … It just seemed that the game turned and we couldn’t get it back."
Nashville did a pretty good job of taking it from them.