Deuces Wild: Predators Tie Leafs

After a 3-0 start, the Toronto Maple Leafs have lost one game and tied another.

The tie Monday night

"It was a bad game for us," Quinn said after the Maple Leafs and Predators played to a 2-2 tie in the only game between the two teams this season. "We were OK early, OK late but not enough to get two points."

Toronto needed a goal from Fredrik Modin at 13:51 of the second period to salvage the point.

Andrew Brunette scored and also assisted on Sergei Krivokrasov's goal at 12:30 of the second that gave the Predators (1-2-1) a 2-1 lead.

Sergei Berezin gave Toronto (3-1-1) the initial lead in the first period.

"The way Toronto's playing, they should really be undefeated," Nashville coach Barry Trotz said. "Hopefully the guys realize that the Leafs are one of the best teams in the league and we should be happy with the tie."

Mike Dunham played well for the Predators, stopping 30 shots as Toronto outshot Nashville 32-25.

"We worked hard and salvaged a point," Dunham said. "We almost had a couple chances to score and we have to be happy as a team."

Alexander Karpotsev, playing his first game for Toronto since being traded with a draft pick from the New York Rangers for Mathieu Schneider last Wednesday, helped the Predators more than the Maple Leafs after missing two games with a bruised knee.

Karpovtsev took two penalties, one of which resulted in Brunette's goal that ied the game 1-1 early in the second. He also slipped on a partial three-on-two rush by the Predators that led to Krivokrasov's first of the season.

That goal seemed to wake up the Maple Leafs a bit as Modin countered just 1:21 later when Steve Sullivan set him up from behind the net.

Sullivan was playing his first game after being a healthy scratch for the previous four contests. He started on a line with Kris King and Tie Domi, but by the end of the game he was playing with Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin.

"It was tough. I hadn't played in more than 20 days and the legs weren't quite there," Sullivan said. "The only pressure I felt is that I wanted to be in the lineup for the next game."

Berezin continued his early-season success with his team-high third goal of the season in the first period when he knocked in the rebound of a Dimitri Yushkevich point shot.

Toronto was stopped on several good chances by Dunham late in the game.

The Maple Leafs went 0-for-5 on the power play while Nashville was 1-for-5.

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