Published April 28, 2016
Filip Forsberg became the youngest player in franchise history to get a hat trick and the Nashville Predators beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 on Tuesday night.
The 21-year-old Forsberg is also the fifth Predator to post a natural hat trick, Elias Sports told the NHL. His outburst helped Nashville improve to 11-1-3 in its last 15 games against Canadian teams, and the Predators also got points on the road for the ninth straight game — the franchise's longest such streak.
Carter Hutton stopped 25 shots for the Predators. James Reimer made 23 saves for the Leafs.
Josh Leivo and Morgan Rielly scored for Toronto.
Nashville has outscored Canadian foes 47-28 during its 15-game string of dominance. The Predators won Tuesday without captain Shea Weber, who is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Weber played nearly 29 minutes in Montreal on Monday night.
Forsberg had dominated in February, scoring nine goals in 11 games. He has 23 goals this season, overtaking James Neal for the team lead with this performance.
He scored in a variety of ways against the Maple Leafs.
Forsberg broke free of the Toronto defense for his first goal, beating Reimer in alone on an early first-period power play. He added his second when Craig Smith stole Reimer's hand-off behind the Leafs net, sneaking a shot through the goaltender's pads. He completed the hat trick with a point-shot rebound.
Nashville holds the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference and last lost in regulation on the road on Jan. 12. The club is 9-3-3 in its last 15 games overall.
The Leafs, meanwhile, continue to languish with an ever-depleted lineup.
Toronto is already dealing with injuries to a number of key players and dealt away forwards Shawn Matthias and Nick Spaling and defenseman Roman Polak in recent days.
All-Star forward Leo Komarov sat out the second game of a three-game suspension and is expected to return Saturday when the Maple Leafs visit the Canadiens in Montreal.
With 301 career NHL games, Jake Gardiner was the most experienced Toronto defenseman against the Predators.
Toronto went down 3-0 before inching back. The club won a coach's challenge on Ryan Ellis' goal to get an offside call, then scored twice in the third period to make it 3-2.
NOTES: The Leafs have lost 16 of their last 20 games (4-13-3) and sit last in the NHL with 50 points. ... Reimer has allowed 19 goals in his last five starts, holding an .823 save percentage in that stretch.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/forsberg-gets-hat-trick-preds-beat-leafs-3-2