Auston Matthews scored two goals early in the third period, leading the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night.
William Nylander also found the net for the Maple Leafs, who have now won three consecutive games and 10 of their last 12. Mitchell Marner added three assists in the win.
Joseph Woll made 22 saves for Toronto.
For Nashville, Jonathan Marchessault and Mark Jankowski scored. The Predators have now lost five straight games, with three of those losses coming in overtime. They’ve scored two goals in each of their last five losses. Juuse Saros stopped 25 shots for the Predators.
Nashville took the lead early in the first period at 5:26 when Marchessault’s long shot bounced off the end barrier, came back over the net, and he knocked it in for his fifth goal of the season, marking his 500th career point. Roman Josi assisted on the goal, which followed a giveaway by Matthews.
Matthews later hit the goal post with a shot in the period.
Josi was shaken up early in the second period after blocking a shot but returned to the game shortly afterward.
Both teams had chances late in the scoreless second period.
Matthews tied the game just 31 seconds into the third period, scoring from the slot on a pass from Marner. Morgan Rielly also assisted on the play.
Matthews then gave Toronto the lead at 2:29 of the third period with his eighth goal of the season, scoring on a backhand from the low slot after another pass from Marner. Matthews has now scored three goals in the last three games after missing nine games due to an upper-body injury.
Nylander added another for Toronto at 5:06 with a 19-foot wrist shot during a five-on-three power play, bringing his season total to 16 goals.
Jankowski scored for Nashville at 16:38 of the third period, getting his first goal of the season on a backhand that went in off the post.
Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe missed his second consecutive game with an upper-body injury after being hit by a puck in the side of the head during a 5-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
