Matthews scores twice early in third period, Leafs come back to down Predators 3-2

TORONTO — Auston Matthews scored twice early in the third period to erase a 1-0 deficit as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Nashville Predators 3-2 on Wednesday.

William Nylander had the other goal for Toronto (16-7-2), which got 22 saves from Joseph Woll.

Mitch Marner chipped in three assists as the Leafs won for the 10th time in 12 games.

Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Jankowski replied for Nashville (7-13-6). The Predators entered having lost three straight 3-2 overtime decisions before falling to 3-4-5 over their last 12 contests. Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots.

The visitors opened the scoring in the first when Marchessault took advantage of a strange bounce before Matthews replied with goals 1:58 apart in the third to give him three in three games since returning from an upper-body injury that kept Toronto’s captain out of the lineup nearly a month.

Matthews scores twice early in third period, Leafs come back to down Predators 3-2 | iNFOnews.ca — Nashville Predators’ Colton Sissons (10) falls as Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) makes the save during third period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Wednesday, December 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Marchessault joined Artemi Panarin and Mats Zuccarello as the third active undrafted player to record 500 points.

Takeaways

Leafs: Marner was one of 17 players named as Canada rounded out its roster for the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off. Toronto defenceman Jani Hakanpaa was added to Finland’s squad.

Predators: Veteran centre Gustav Nyquist was named to Sweden’s team for the February tournament in Montreal and Boston.

Key moment

Matthews scored his second goal of the night on a sequence where he lost control of the puck after deking past Nyquist, but still fooled Saros for his eighth of the campaign.

Key stat

The Predators entered Wednesday last in the league with an average of 2.32 goals per game despite making a big splash in free agency with the additions of Marchessault, fellow forward Steven Stamkos and defenceman Brady Skjei.

Up next

Nashville continues a three-game road trip Thursday against the Montreal Canadiens. Toronto hosts the Washington Capitals on Friday to wrap up a three-game homestand.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 4, 2024.

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