Cayden Primeau focused on fixing mistakes after win in first Maple Leafs start

The Toronto Maple Leafs are back in the win column as the team put together a 7-4 defeat of the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Back in net was Cayden Primeau, as the new Leafs acquisition made his first NHL start in 10 months. Returning to the big leagues with a brand-new team, Primeau wasn’t shy in sharing after the game that he was anxious going into this one.

“I was nervous,” he said. “Not being able to play a preseason game, to play a game with the group. A little bit nervous trying to figure out how things were gonna go.”

And while those jitters didn’t disappear right away, he shared it wasn’t long before he found his groove, even though he didn’t have much to do through the start of the game.

“A couple minutes in, I finally felt like I was settled in,” Primeau said. “I didn’t have much action, so just being able to move around, get out back, play the puck, get the game feel.”

The Michigan born goaltender finished the night with four goals against on 30 shots faced for an .867 SV%. While he emerged with the win, he said he’s more focused on cleaning up his game than the final score.

“I don’t look at results,” Primeau said. “Feels good to get the win, but wasn’t pretty at times. So a lot of good things that I did, but a lot I can work on.”

Primeau’s debut with the Maple Leafs was extra special, with his dad, former NHLer Keith Primeau, hailing from the city. But, if you’re looking for a heartwarming story of his whole family coming out to the game, the 26-year-old shared the stands weren’t quite filled with relatives.

“Not as many as I thought (came out), it’s my sister’s birthday,” he said, earning a laugh from the room.

Primeau will now pass the net back to starter Anthony Stolarz. Barring any misfortunes for the team, he’ll likely appear next when the Leafs have another back-to-back next weekend.