Forsberg Nets Ninth Career Hat Trick, Powers Predators to 4-2 Win Over Sabres

The hats must flow.

Filip Forsberg earned his ninth career hat trick to power the Nashville Predators to a 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres and extend the team’s point streak to 10 games on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena.

“I think we're playing pretty good hockey,” Forsberg said. “It's been a pretty solid effort over our four lines and three D-pairings, and we’re getting great goaltending as well. So, I think this is something we’ve got to keep building on, obviously. And it's been a really good homestand.” 

With less than 24 hours before the NHL Trade Deadline and only 18 games remaining in the 2023-24 campaign, the Predators on Thursday delivered a clear message of their postseason intentions.

“We want to win, and we're not retooling and rebuilding, we want to win right now and we're hungry,” Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette said. “And when we do things that make us successful, that recipe that we do it with, we're a pretty good team. And I think we proved that over the last 10 games. Now there's lots of hockey left, there's more growth in this group that we're going to need to get to and there's going to be little bumps in the road, kind of a little bit like I feel right now. So we're going to have to be able to handle that a little bit better than we've had in the past and just keep working.”

The result saw Nashville close their five-game homestand with nine out of 10 possible points and moved the team to 36-25-3 on the campaign and 18-15-1 at home.

QUICK HITS

Forsberg’s Hatty

Five days after teammate Cody Glass netted his first career hat trick, Forsberg got in on the fun himself. 

Scoring the opening goal in the first period, then adding two more in the third, Forsberg recorded his ninth career hat trick and padded his franchise record.

“He's the whole package,” Brunette said. “And when he gets going like that, when he's kind of playing a power forward game, instead of a complete skill game, he puts the power forward and the skill comes behind it, and that's a deadly combination.”

“It's a lot of fun to watch,” teammate Luke Evangelista said. “It looks like he's having a lot of fun. And that whole line in general for the last couple games, some of the passing plays that you see from them I've never seen that kind of level of hockey. So to just watch and learn from them, and they're having a huge impact on this [point] streak, they’ve been playing some great hockey and obviously, Fil has been fantastic for us.”

Forsberg’s first-period marker additionally extended the forward’s point streak to seven games (7g-5a); he is one game away from matching a career-high eight-game point streak (4g-8a) established from April 16-29, 2022.

The trio of goals gave Forsberg 33 on the season and seven in his last seven outings.

A Career High for Gus

Picking up an assist on each of Forsberg’s goals, Gustav Nyquist established a career-high in helpers (39) on Thursday.

“I've been playing with two great players from 10 games in,” Nyquist said. “It's been a great fit for me. I’ve obviously gotten tons of opportunities from [Brunette], who's really believed in me and honestly, maybe even at my age, I still feel young but I’m developing, I think, as a hockey player. I've learned some new things. That’s both the coaching and the two guys I'm playing with, so credit to those guys. We’ve just got to keep rolling.”

Nyquist’s three-point performance was his third of the season and stood as the forward’s second straight multi-point outing.

Janko’s Dish

Evangelista may have scored the goal, but the highlight of the second period belonged to Mark Jankowski, who recorded his first assist of the season after dishing a slick pass to his teammate right on the doorstep.

“It was a really nice play,” Evangelista said. “We went with the speed breakout there and all four guys were kind of flying off the ice and Novak made a nice slip play to Janko and I kind of beat my guy to the back post and Janko put it right on the tape for me.” 

The goal was Evangelista’s 12th of the season - his second on the power play - and earned the forward points in consecutive outings (1g-1a). Evangelista (19) additionally moved into third for most goals by a rookie in Predators history, trailing only Tanner Jeannot (29) and Forsberg (27).

300 Hits

Recording a team-high 5 hits against the Sabres on Thursday, defenseman and NHL checking leader Jeremy Lauzon reached 303 hits on the season. It is the first time the defenseman has reached the 300-hit mark in his career.

UP NEXT

The Predators kick off a back-to-back set on Saturday when they face the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena.

Puck drop is at 11:30 a.m. CT with the game set to broadcast on Bally Sports South, 102.5 The Game and El Jefe Radio.

NOTES

• Nashville’s 10-game point streak (9-0-1) is the eighth run of at least that length in franchise history and the first since a franchise-record 15-game stretch in 2017-18. It is the longest active point streak in the NHL.
• Nyquist boosted his totals to 56 points (17g-39a) this season, his first with the Predators. That ties Matt Duchene (56 points w/ DAL) for the most points by a player with a new team this season. The Predators have two of the top three scorers on new teams this season (Ryan O’Reilly, 55 pts).
• Forsberg scored his 51st career game-winning goal, extending his franchise record and moving within two of tying Markus Naslund for fifth place in NHL history among Swedish nationals.
• Tyson Barrie was scratched and did not skate in Thursday’s game.