I say this with as little faint praise as possible. Despite the final score being 6-3, the Predators didn’t play all that badly in this game.
The deck was stacked against them from the beginning. The Tampa Bay Lightning entered (and finished) as the NHL’s best team points-percentage wise. The Predators, meanwhile, were decimated by injuries, and were forced to play six rookies. Four of their top six defenders were sidelined.
Still, there were flashes of great hockey from Nashville. The young defensive corps (Alexandre Carrier looks like a star) held their own against Tampa’s explosive stars.