Nashville Predators can't keep up with superior Maple Leafs: 3 Standouts in the Loss

This matchup was a tall mountain to climb coming into it, and the entire 60 minutes turned out that way for the Nashville Predators against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.

The Maple Leafs jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on the Predators with elite passing and simply dissecting Nashville's defense. Backup goalie Justus Annunen had a tough time from the start.

To the credit of the Predators, they didn't just throw in the towel. They hung in there and even stormed back to tie it at 2-2 with goals from Michael McCarron and Erik Haula. After a few minutes of a tie game and Nashville pushing hard, Toronto jumped back ahead for good.

The Maple Leafs would finish with only 28 shots on goal, but seven goals on the scoreboard thanks to two empty net goals when Nashville refused to go down quietly.

Really difficult scenario for Nashville in this one. It's on a back-to-back against a truly elite team, and they didn't have their bellcow in net that has been saving them through the first three gameds in Juuse Saros.

Here are my three things that really stood out in particular from this game as the Predators drop to 2-1-1 and continue their four-game Canada road trip.

1. Juuse Saros wasn't there to save the day this time

First of all, this early in the season it's totally the right move to not start Saros on a back-to-back and quite frankly, I'm not sure how much Saros would've mattered in this one.

The Maple Leafs managed a whopping 5.18 Expected Goals while the Predators struggled for most of the game to even crack the nuetral zone and get set up in the offensive zone. They did grind hard for their four goals, but nothing came easy on Tuesday night at Toronto.

Still, maybe Saros could have made a couple extra spectacular saves to keep this closer. But again, two empty net goals by Toronto distorts the final score a bit. Annunen was kind of thrown to the wolves in his first start of 2025-26 as the backup to Saros.

So while I don't put much of the blame on Annunen, it may have made a small difference if Saros was in there to enact further highway robbery on NHL teams. It already is shaping up to be another season where Saros is counted on for 60-plus starts, so you have to preserve some of that energy this early in the season.

It's also worth noting that in this clash of backup goalies, Toronto's backup Cayden Primeau also didn't have a stellar performance surrendering two goals late in the third period to make the final score more commendable for Nashville.

2. Depth scoring shows up for Nashville Predators

A major positive to pull from this game is the depth played well and found ways to get some goals. Michael McCarron's second period goal came as a result of hard forechecking and making Toronto skaters uncomfortable. They kind of shellshocked Toronto there in that two-goal sequence to tie things up.

Erik Haula, a product of that third line that is cooking up something special each and every game, got the tying goal. More of that grinding style of play and winning puck battles thanks to Ozzy Wiesblatt, who dished out a dime to Haula in a prime scoring area.

Later in the game you'd see Nick Perbix get his first goal in a Nashville sweater, adding onto his assist he had earlier in the night. That's just bonus offense coming from Perbix, a guy Nashville isn't really counting on to produce much offense. But hey, we'll take it.

Weisblatt, Perbix and Adam Wilsby would end the night as the multi-point scorers for Nashville, while Roman Josi would also get in on the scoring action with his first goal of 2025-26.

It's encouraging to see bottom-six players like Wiesblatt, Haula and McCarron getting in on the offense. Now we just need a lot more consistent production from the guys you pay big money for to score more goals.

Really like in particular what I saw from Wiesblatt in this game, and it should earn him another start on Thursday at the Montreal Canadiens.

3. Nothing to lose sleep over, just can't let it snowball into multiple losses in a row. Have to fix the power play.

You have to have a short memory in an 82-game season. It doesn't mean you don't learn from the mistakes, and there were plenty to take away from this game, but definintely can't dwell on it for too long.

Again, this was a really tough scenario for Nashville in a matchup I had them as heavy underdogs. No one likes moral victories and we shouldn't be patting ourselves on the back for losing 7-4, but also have to realize that the focus has to quickly shift to the next opponent. It's a marathon, not a sprint as they always say. We're four games in and 2-1-1.

The biggest concern to pull from these first four games is the lack of consistent offense. We saw it come in flashes in all four games, but nothing that is sustainable. The power play is the obvious eyesore after four games.

The Predators power play is 1 for 17 on the young season. Against Toronto, it was a lot of wasted time even getting into the zone to get set up. When they did, a lot of passing but not a lot of structure to get the high danger shot.

Fixing the power play has to be the top priority for Head Coach Andrew Brunette right now. You're going to be flirting with last place again if this trend continues. The elite teams, like Toronto, will make you pay if you can't capitalize on your power play chances. It's that simple.

The Predators are getting their chances and drawing penalties. They're averaging 4.25 power play opportunities per game, which is near the top of the NHL. If you even add two or three more power play goals to those 17 attempts, and the Predators are suddenly maybe an undefeated team through four games.

I'm really looking at Steven Stamkos in this regard. Zero goals through four games, and he has been used heavily on those 17 power play chances and nothing to show for it. Considering this is the main reason you have him on the team, this is something that has to improve quickly.