In Nashville, John Tavares’ second power play goal of the game came in the third period to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-1 lead over the Predators, 
“I’m just trying to focus on playing well and executing through all three zones,” Tavares said. “I trust my ability and my instincts to make plays.”
That goal proved to be the winner when Tyson Barrie closed the deficit for the Predators to 3-2 late in the third for the final score.
Joseph Woll made 23 saves in the Maple Leafs win.
“Sometimes you’re pretty fortunate when you get a lot of action early on,” Woll said. “It helps you really get into the game. It was just kind of how the game went. They had a lot early on, and I didn’t see much the rest of the game. It was pretty awesome to see our team really take control.”
Toronto improved to 44-20-9.
“I thought we were good again,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. “I’d like to have scored more with the chances that we had to extend our lead and make it a little more comfortable there. You leave them within striking distance, and that’s why they have a chance to get a push there in the third.”
Tavares staked Toronto to a 1-0 lead in the period off the power play.
The Predators dropped to 36-28-8.
“It was a good effort,” Nashville forward Cody Glass said. “Obviously, we lose [Duchene] in the second period, so that hurts a lot. We have a young group, and it was kind of one of those adversity things where guys have got to step up, and that’s kind of what this whole thing has been about. I felt like we crawled back into it. … We were right there. I love the effort.”
Alexander Kerfoot pushed the lead to 2-0 in the middle frame.
Glass trimmed the deficit in half, 2-12, for Nashville.
Barrie scored at 18:18 to make the last minute more tense for the Maple Leafs.
“Tyson has done a good job,” Nashville coach John Hynes said. “I give him a lot of credit. He’s playing more minutes and more different situations than he did when he was in Edmonton. … He’s stepped right in. He’s battling every night. He’s got a great energy about him just in and around the room.”
Kevin Lankinen made 31 saves in the Nashville loss.
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