Toronto snapped its two-game losing streak, defeating the Nashville Predators 7-4 at Scotiabank Arena on Tuesday night.
Despite playing their third game in four nights, the Leafs showed no signs of fatigue, jumping out to a 2-0 first-period lead.
Defenceman Jake McCabe started things off for Toronto, scoring his first of the season with just over 11 minutes left in the period. Dakota Joshua rounded the Predators’ net, fed a pass to McCabe at the blue line, who fired one through traffic, beating Predators’ goalie Justus Annunen to make it 1-0.
About five minutes later, another Leafs blue-liner found the back of the Predators’ net. Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored his first of the season when his side of the net pass deflected past Annunen to push the advantage to two.
Nashville fought back in the second, scoring off one their own ricochets. Winger Michael McCarron tapped in a deflected shot in front of the Leafs’ goalie Cayden Primeau, who was starting his first game of the season.
Nashville tied the game 44 seconds later when Eric Haula slammed home an Ozzy Weisblatt feed in front of the Toronto net, forcing Craig Berube to call a timeout in an attempt to calm his team down.
The ship was not quite settled, though, as the Predators went on the power play soon after and fired a couple of near misses. The Leafs survived the man advantage, and veteran centre John Tavares put them back on top, banging home William Nylander’s rebound to make it 3-2.
Toronto extended its lead later in the period when Bobby McMann scored his second of the year with just over three minutes remaining. The speedy left winger converted off a brilliant transition play started by Ekman-Larsson deep in the Leafs’ zone.
The captain, Auston Matthews, got on the scoring sheet midway through the third, making it 5-2 Toronto. Matthews broke in on a two-on-one started by Easton Cowan, then played tic-tac-toe with Matthew Knies before sliding it past Annunen. Cowan’s assist on the goal was his first NHL point.
Nashville did its best to stay in the game. Roman Josi scored with 3:56 remaining to make it 5-3, but Matthews added his second into an empty net less than a minute later to restore the three-goal lead.
The Predators closed within two once again. With just over a minute left, Nick Prebix tucked one into the corner past Primeau to make it 6-4.
But they did not get any closer. Nylander sealed the deal, flipping one from just outside the blue line into a vacant goal to make the final 7-4
The Leafs are back in action Thursday night when they take on the Rangers at Scotiabank Arena.
