Filip Forsberg tallied twice, and Luke Evangelista had a three-point night against his hometown team to help the Nashville Predators defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs by a 5-2 final on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena. The result snaps a four-game skid for the Preds to begin a back-to-back weekend set.
Michael Bunting scored his first as a member of the Preds, while Kieffer Bellows, Forsberg and Evangelista all found the back of the net for Nashville to put forth a response from a frustrating loss that was rather satisfactory.
“I thought it was great,” Forsberg said. “It was a really good start. We kind of faded away a little bit after their first goal, but after that, I think we were the better team for the rest of the game. I thought we played really good both ways with the puck, and we didn't really give a really good team that much. It's a little bit of a statement of what we can do, but it…hasn't been the standard. So we want to keep building towards this being [the standard].”
“Games like that can kind of swing momentum for us,” Evangelista said. “You could really feel the atmosphere in the building. We [were] down early and then kind of [came] back, and the building was alive. We have to capitalize off wins like this. We’re not quitting at this point in the season just because of where we are. We're trying to build something here for next year and looking to capitalize off of a game like this, for sure.”
Toronto had a 2-0 lead through the first 20 minutes with goals from John Tavares and Mitch Marner, but the second stanza belonged to Nashville.
To start, Bunting potted his first as a member of the Preds - a one-timer on the power play from the left circle on a feed from Fedor Svechkov - to get the home team on the board.
“It felt good to finally get that one under my belt,” Bunting said. “And also, more importantly, we got the win. [It] was my first win with the Preds, so it's been great here so far. Obviously, it hasn't been a good run here for a little bit for us, but I thought today we responded really well after the first period. We get to feel good going into tomorrow.”
Then, midway through the frame, Bellows converted off a 2-on-1 when he beat Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll top shelf to even the score. Finally, with less than a minute remaining in the period, Forsberg followed up a chance in front and jammed a loose puck home to give the Predators their first lead of the night with the final frame looming.
“[If we’re winning], they're going to have a push in the third [period], but there's been times this season where we've just been sitting back and trying to hold on to something, and tonight was the complete opposite,” Forsberg said. “I thought we kept forward, kept pushing, kept getting chances, obviously. I think that's the way we have to go.”
From there, Forsberg fed Evangelista to put Nashville up by two before No. 9 iced things into an empty net for a Saturday night in Smashville that delivered on all fronts, including one of the more impressive outings for Evangelista in his NHL career.
“I hope that catapults him here a little bit where he builds on it and keeps it going,” Preds Head Coach Andrew Brunette said of Evangelista. “For him, Saturday night in Smashville, Hockey Night in Canada, being a Toronto kid, it's a big deal. So hopefully this gives him some confidence, a little mojo. I was really happy for a lot of guys. We haven't had too many Saturday nights here that we left feeling good about ourselves, so to get five [goals] against a really good team feels pretty good, and hopefully it's something we can hold on to.”
The Predators will now quickly turn their attention to facing the Blues in St. Louis in less than 24 hours, and there will be plenty from Saturday’s showing they’ll want to replicate.
“We've proven to ourselves that we can do it,” Forsberg said. “So [there is no] reason not to go right back at it tomorrow.”
Notes:
Forward Jakub Vrana and defenseman Jordan Oesterle were healthy scratches for Nashville on Saturday night.
With their three-game homestand now complete, the Preds will head to St. Louis for a date with the Blues on Sunday evening before meeting up with the Hurricanes in Carolina on Tuesday.
