Forsberg has hat trick, Predators defeat Sabres to push point streak to 10

NASHVILLE -- Filip Forsberg scored his ninth NHL hat trick, and the Nashville Predators extended their point streak to 10 games with a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Bridgestone Arena on Thursday.

Juuse Saros made 26 saves, and Gustav Nyquist had three assists for the Predators (36-25-3), who are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games.

“I think we’re playing pretty good hockey,” Forsberg said. “It’s a pretty solid effort over four lines and three [defense] pairs, and getting great goaltending as well. This is something that we’ve got to keep building on.”

Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist in his debut for the Sabres (29-30-5) after he was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for forward Casey Mittelstadt on Wednesday. Eric Comrie made 21 saves.

“It was nice to get it out of the way,” Byram said of scoring his first goal with Buffalo. “Obviously, not the way you want your first game with a new team to end, but that’s the way it goes. We’ll head back to Buffalo now. I’ll try to get my life somewhat sorted and get ready to play again.”

Forsberg gave the Predators a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 3:53 of the first period, scoring with a wrist shot off a pass from Roman Josi.

Byram quickly tied it 1-1 at 4:23. He got the puck at the point, skated down to the left circle and beat Saros blocker side.

“He’s dynamic,” Sabres coach Don Granato said. “He’s in the peer group with Dahlin. A year different, a draft year different, has won a Stanley Cup, is a top-five pick. To have him, knowing he’s gone through incredible experiences already in this League, and keep in mind, [Byram and Dahlin] around 22 years old with not a lot of life experience yet. Dynamic, and it’s exciting to see the potential of those two players.”

Luke Evangelista gave the Predators a 2-1 lead at 16:15 with another power-play goal. Tommy Novak found Mark Jankowski on the rush, and he delivered a cross-ice pass to the slot that Evangelista finished.

“I’m kind of finding my game and winning some more battles,” Evangelista said. “Obviously, any time you can produce and have a positive impact on the game, especially at this time of year, it’s huge. It’s not just me though. Everyone is kind of finding their game right now, and it’s showing in the wins and points that we’re racking up.”

Forsberg pushed it to 3-1 at 1:49 of the third period. Nyquist made a backhand pass from the corner to Forsberg, who used a forehand-to-backhand deke to beat Comrie blocker side.

“I saw their [defensemen] cheating as he was making his turn around the net,” Nyquist said. “It worked out pretty good. It helps, obviously, we’ve been playing for a while now together with [Predators forward Ryan O'Reilly] and seem to be able to find those spots, all three of us. Just got to keep going.”

Forsberg completed the hat trick on a wraparound to make it 4-1 at 6:43.

“That top line was really on it right from the start,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. “I thought their line and [Predators forward Michael McCarron’s line] were going. You could see the mojo they were creating. We knew [Forsberg] was probably going to have a night.”

Owen Power cut it to 4-2 at 12:52 with a shot from the slot off a pass from Byram on a rush.

“[Byram] just found me,” Power said. “I didn’t know exactly how much space I had. I knew I had a guy on me, so he made a really nice play to just kind of put it on my stick. I was able to just put it in.”

NOTES: Sabres forward Tage Thompson did not play because of an upper-body injury. He is day-to-day. … Byram had three shots on goal and four shot attempts in 24:58 of ice time. … The Predators acquired forward Anthony Beauvillier from the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. They also traded forward Yakov Trenin to the Avalanche.