NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Filip Forsberg and Matt Duchene each had a goal and an assist to lead the Nashville Predators to a 6-3 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night.
Tanner Jeannot, Mattias Ekholm and Yakov Trenin also scored for the Predators, who have won three of four. Juuse Saros made 38 saves, Roman Josi had three assists and Colton Sissons added two.
Mitchell Marner had two goals and an assist for the Maple Leafs. Auston Matthews added a goal and an assist, and Erik Kallgren made 28 saves for Toronto, which won its previous two games.
Forsberg’s goal at 12:11 of the third period gave him 33 on the season and 211 for his career, setting a Nashville record.
Jeannot scored first at 13:46 of the opening period.
Sissons carried the puck into the Toronto zone on the right side and cut to the middle. He found Jeannot skating on the left side and he beat Kallgren with a wrist shot high to the far side.
Tolvanen made it 2-0 at 1:48 of the second when he redirected Jeremy Davies' shot from the left point by Kallgren.
Marner halved the Nashville lead at 8:04 of the second.
The Predators regained a two-goal lead at 10:52 of the second when Ekholm connected on a one-timer from the right boards off a feed from Alexandre Carrier.
At 3:41 of the third, Matthews collected the rebound of his own shot and beat Saros just inside the left post to draw the Maple Leafs within a goal.
Duchene scored off a rebound of Forsberg's shot at 14:09 of the third. The goal was Duchene's 33rd of the season, setting a career high.
Marner scored again at 15:19 of the third and Trenin added an empty-net goal in the final minute.
RECORD-BREAKING GOAL
Forsberg’s goal broke the franchise record previously held by David Legwand. Saturday was Forsberg’s 546th game played, while Legwand set his mark in 956 games.
MATTHEWS RETURNS
Matthews played his first game since serving a two-game suspension for cross-checking Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin in the neck in last Sunday’s Heritage Classic.
Matthews scored his NHL-leading 46th goal of the season early in the third period Saturday. He has 11 points (nine goals, two assists) in his last six games.
KASE INJURED
Toronto right wing Ondrej Kase left early in the second period after a neutral-zone collision with Nashville’s Matt Duchene.
Later in the period, the Maple Leafs announced Kase would not return to the game for precautionary reasons.
DEFENSIVE MOVES
Nashville recalled defensemen Davies and Matt Tennyson from Milwaukee of the AHL and inserted them into the lineup as the team’s third pairing. In corresponding moves, the Predators placed blueliners Matt Benning and Mark Borowiecki on injured reserve.
Borowiecki has missed Nashville’s last seven games due to a lower-body injury. Benning has missed two games with an upper-body injury.
Nashville also placed defenseman Philippe Myers on waivers.
UP NEXT
Predators: Visit the Anaheim Ducks to begin a three-game road trip Monday.
Maple Leafs: Host the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday.
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