Kemell provides Nashville Predators with some light at the end of the tunnel in narrow loss to Tampa

The youth continue to impress, this time doing it in interesting fashion.

The Nashville Predators rounded out March with a 3-2 road loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena Sunday, March 29.

Kemell, the former first-round pick, scored the Nashville's first goal of the night by crashing the Tampa Bay net in the second period. Winger Filip Forsberg caught Kemell on a breakaway, feeding him the puck while the rookie was under pressure. Kemell got tripped up by Tampa defenseman Erik Cernak right as he took a shot, sliding into goalie Jonas Johansson and pushing the puck into the back of the net. It was called a good call after the play was put under review for goaltender interference.

"Obviously really proud of him," Preds winger and former Milwaukee Admirals teammate Zachary L'Heureux said. "I think being able to play with him for the last few years, he's one of my better buddies on the team, I'd say I was just so happy for him. It was a big goal for us at the time too."

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It is the Finnish winger's first NHL goal and point after playing a total of 10 games with Nashville, eight of which were this season.

The Predators came out of the first period looking strong, leading the shots department 10-1. However, the final two periods saw the Lightning take control, outshooting Nashville by three in both.

After Kemell's goal in the middle frame, Tampa winger Jake Guentzel responded with his 35th of the season on an open net. Preds goalie Justus Annunen blocked the initial shot on the left side but couldn't get back in time for Guentzel's rebound.

In the third, the Lightning extended their lead with help from winger Brandon Hagel, who paused and snapped one. He also picked up his 35th of the year.

Forsberg tied it up 20 seconds later on a flurry of tips, eventually finding its way through a line of Lightning defensemen and into the net for the lead. It was his 34th tuck of the season, surpassing the 2015-16 campaign for third most goals in a season for the winger.

Tampa winger Corey Perry scored the game-winning goal two minutes later.

Nashville pulled Annunen in the final minutes of the game and Guentzel rasied to the empty net in the dying seconds, but time expired before he could score.

It's the Predators third straight loss against an Eastern Conference team and their third straight loss. The team won't play again until Thursday where they play wild card rival Los Angeles Kings. Sitting just one point ahead of Los Angeles, Nashville will have the opportunity to extend the point gap with a win.

"We're still in the hunt. This is make or break," L'Heureux said. "It's playoff hockey from now on. We know we're still in the race. We just got to go out there and win some games, see what we change and do better and go out there on the road and do our job."

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