Matthews scores twice, Maple Leafs shut out Predators

TORONTO -- Auston Matthews scored twice, and Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves for his first shutout of the season, helping the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the Nashville Predators 4-0 at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

It was the 11th NHL shutout for Samsonov, who was making his first start since Nov. 24.

“[It felt] great,” Samsonov said. “Long time no see, you guys (the media). Feel good. Great game for us, like how we’re working on the ice, blocking shots, how we score the goal, how we’re fighting [for] each other. It was great for us.”

Joseph Woll, who sustained a high ankle sprain in a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, started Toronto’s previous five games. Samsonov did not dress for the previous two games because of an illness.

“Really solid, I just thought [Samsonov] looked calm and poised in the net,” Matthews said. “I thought we did a really good job, probably one of our most consistent games of the year forechecking, hounding their [defensemen] and being able to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone, and when he had to come up with some big saves and stops, he did, so it was really good to see.”

William Nylander had two assists for the Maple Leafs (14-6-4), who are 4-0-1 in their past five games and 8-1-2 in their past 11.

Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves for the Predators (14-13-0), who had won three in a row.

“They were smothering, they took away time and space,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We weren’t ready for the speed of the game, we didn’t manage the puck. We did a lot of things that equal losing hockey.”

David Kampf put Toronto ahead 1-0 at 14:15 of the second period. He took a lead pass from Conor Timmins and, while fighting off Nashville defenseman Ryan McDonagh, shot over Lankinen’s glove in the slot.

“It was a nice pass by Timmins,” Kampf said, “and I tried to get good speed and get behind their defenseman and tried to put it to the net and it went in, so I was happy.

“I would say it’s probably more like instinct, I just tried to put it up. I wasn’t too much thinking about it.”

Matthews made it 2-0 at 17:57 when he jammed in a pass from Nylander that was slowed by Predators defenseman Roman Josi at the side of the net.

“We just turned pucks over, lose too many battles,” Nashville forward Colton Sissons said. “We really didn’t have a whole lot of time in the offensive zone just in general. It’s on us, it wasn’t us tonight.”

Matthews pushed the lead to 3-0 on a power play at 16:49 of the third period, taking a pass from Nylander and shooting between Lankinen’s pads from the left hash marks.

“There were a few (plays in the third) we’d like to manage better, but I just thought all game we had a real patient approach,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “In the second period especially, our game started to really come, and I thought we really took care of the puck and made sure we just were wearing them down and not really let their game get started offensively, and I thought through that over time we could break them down. … I just loved our second period and that set us up for the third, which the guys took care of well.”

Noah Gregor scored short-handed into an empty net 18:29 for the 4-0 final.

“We just kept staying on it,” Nylander said, “and making a little bit smarter decisions with the puck maybe and putting it in instead of trying to make small plays. And spending time in the offensive zone, not letting them get on our half so much.”

NOTES: The Maple Leafs’ streak of one-goal games ended at eight (5-2-1). ... With his 65th multigoal game, Matthews passed Rick Vaive for second in Toronto history. Darryl Sittler had 71. ... Predators center Cody Glass was minus-2 and went 4-for-10 on face-offs in 12:17 after missing nine games with an upper-body injury. ... Nashville defenseman Tyson Barrie was minus-1 in 18:57 after being a healthy scratch for the third time in four games Thursday, when the Predators defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1.