Nashville Predators center Colin Wilson (33) scores a goal against Toronto Maple Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier (45) in the third period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)

NASHVILLE – The puck was going in. It was certainly sliding across the goal line. A Daniel Winnik deflection off a pinball shot by Tyler Bozak was wired for the back of the Nashville net. Tie game, 4-4, three minutes left, possibly going to overtime between the Maple Leafs and Predators! Nine games of Toronto losing futility possibly coming to an end!

Except Predators goaltender Carter Hutton turned around and swatted the puck away before it could cross the line at Bridgestone Arena, ensuring the Predators’ 4-3 win over Toronto and 10 straight losses for the Leafs -- tying a franchise record set in 1967.

It’s easy to say that miraculous save could encapsulate Toronto’s losing ways of late and its wayward season, that also oddly included winning eight of nine games. Puck luck? Bad luck? Hockey gods? Hockey voodoo? It’s just flat out losing. And it’s finding different ways to do it.

“Yeah, I mean you get a play like that 10 times, nine of them are going in and it’s just … we’re a little snake-bitten right now,” defenseman Cody Franson said. “But I thought we did a lot of good things in that game tonight.”

The Predators out-shot the Leafs 32-28. Corsi? It was 56-50 in favor of Nashville. The Leafs looked mediocre in the first period, scored three unanswered, including two scores in the first three minutes of the third period to make it 3-2 … then came the decision by coach Peter Horachek.

Goaltender Jonathan Bernier had cut himself near the end of the second period – a gash that required 12 stitches. The Leafs took the lead with James Reimer in net. And then Horachek opted to put Bernier back in the game.

Horachek said “it was his start” in referencing Bernier, and that the netminder wanted to come back in.

Even Bernier confirmed he did so as well. He’s tough, he’s a hockey player. What’s 12 stitches?

“I wanted to go out there and do my job and show the guys I care and wanted to go back out there,” he said.

But even Bernier admitted he wasn’t “100 percent.”

Now think of this goaltender switcheroo:

Bernier goes down, Reimer comes in cold. Reimer starts the third period still cold, comes out in favor of Bernier – who now has to adjust to his stitches and injury without a warm-up.

Hindsight is always 20/20, and the feel from the bench is always different than how it looks in the press box. But it seemed like a difficult situation for both netminders.

The game-winner came on a Colin Wilson shot at the 11:18 mark of the third.

And what does this all mean in the long run? Not much. It was just a different way to lose for Toronto, which probably should be more lauded for coming close to beating the NHL’s top team in the toughest barn in the league at the moment and outplaying Nashville for large portions of the game. The Predators have lost just two regulation games in Smashville all year. The Maple Leafs now have the 25th-best record in the NHL.

Toronto didn’t look nearly as bad as we’re often led to believe. But the Leafs still didn’t win. And in the NHL it’s a zero sum game.

“For about 50 minutes there, it seemed like we couldn’t have done anything wrong,” forward Nazem Kadri said. “We played pretty solid and scored a few goals. We were playing simple and getting greasy ones, but then again, their goalie made some big saves and that was the end of it.”

There are pieces in Toronto, but overall, they’re not Stanley Cup level at the moment. Forward Mike Santorelli – possible trade bait due to his upcoming unrestricted free agent status – looked sharp and scored a goal. Franson, who is also a pending UFA and heavily rumored to be traded notched an assist and played a strong, physical defensive game knocking down Predators wunderkind Filip Forsberg.

Maybe these assets can yield building blocks when team president Brendan Shanahan takes a hammer to this house. But until then it’s just finding new and different ways to get to the same bottom line.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper