The Covenant School shooting hits close to home for Nashville Predators, Ryan McDonagh

For Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan McDonagh and his teammates, Tuesday night's game against the Boston Bruins "wasn't just another game."

In wake of the tragic shooting that took the lives of three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members Monday at The Covenant School in Nashville, McDonagh stayed behind with his family, which includes three young daughters, while the team flew to Boston later that day.

McDonagh said his daughter's school, which is located near The Covenant School, was on lockdown. McDonagh caught a commercial flight to Boston on Tuesday to join the team.

"It wasn't (just another game)," McDonagh told reporters in Boston. "And quite frankly, there really are no words that you can say about what went on (Monday) in Nashville and it's just a tragedy for those families and everybody affected. You don't really realize it until you have kids of your own, the perspective that it hits you with."

In support of the Nashville school, the Predators and Bruins wore stickers of The Covenant School's logo on their helmets before Nashville's 2-1 victory Tuesday in Boston.

The teams also observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims. The Bruins plan to donate $10,000 to the Predators Foundation to be used for families of the victims.

"It's not like this (is) the first school shooting," McDonagh said. "Unfortunately that's happened, but now that you have kids and it happens close to home it's definitely different. And like any parent, you do anything you can to help your family and your kids out. ... We felt like we needed to go out and try to do our job the best we could and sacrifice and leave it all out there and just try to maybe bring a little bit of inspiration to the city of Nashville."

On his way to Boston, McDonagh met a 17-year-old Predators fan from Brentwood who was going to Boston to celebrate his 17th birthday by watching the Predators. McDonagh and Predators coach John Hynes invited the boy to the locker room before the game to read the team's starting lineup.

Hynes said the shooting was addressed with the team before Tuesday's 2-1 victory.

"What happened in Nashville hit home to people in the organization and people in the city of Nashville and even Ryan McDonagh," Hynes told reporters in Boston. "We're on a platform here as professional athletes and coaches, and the city of Nashville means a lot to these people and we wanted to put in an effort for the first responders, for the people that were involved, the families, the school. We talked about it prior to the game — make what happened tonight special and put forth a special effort that could represent Nashville the right way and the fighting spirit that the city had, the first responders had and everyone involved had."

As for the game itself, Hynes said he hoped some people were able to "take a few hours and maybe get away from a few things in your life."

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Covenant School shooting hits close to home for Predators' Ryan McDonagh