Nashville Predators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs Pick & Prediction JANUARY 11th 2023
The visiting Nashville Predators will try to push their winning streak to five games, while also trying to earn a point in a seventh consecutive game, when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night.
Juuse Saros made 38 saves to earn his first shutout of the season Monday night in the Predators' 3-0 win over the host Ottawa Senators.
Saros has stopped a combined 102 shots over his past two starts after making 64 saves in a 5-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday to open a five-game road trip.
Jimmy Liu
"I had a lot of help," Saros said after the victory over the Senators. "We had a lot of blocks (22) and our penalty kill was really good. I've got to give some credit to the guys. I'm just trying to see the puck and read the plays. Obviously, I've had some puck luck in these games as well. I like to play. It's been a lot of shots, but I don't feel tired."
Toronto is coming off back-to-back wins - 4-1 over the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Saturday and 6-2 against the host Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
The Maple Leafs placed defenseman TJ Brodie (rib) on injured reserve Tuesday.
"(Brodie) has been playing through something and got a few extra tests done," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said. "It's something that is going to require a little bit of time to settle. ... nothing too long."
Auston Matthews, who scored his 20th goal Sunday, did not practice Tuesday.
"Maintenance day for him," Keefe said. "We will see where he is at going into (Wednesday). Nothing we're too concerned about at this point."
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Center Bobby McMann was promoted from the Toronto Marlies of the American Hockey League, where he had eight goals and seven assists in 17 games. He had three goals and three assists in three games last week and was named AHL Player of the Week.
The Maple Leafs have reached the halfway point and are 25-9-7 (57 points).
"No doubt in November and mid-December we were playing at an extremely high level," said Toronto captain John Tavares, who has four goals in the past three games and 19 for the season. "We've had ups and downs in other parts of the year and want to be continuing to ramp up. We've put ourselves in a pretty good spot, now it's up to us to continue that, take advantage and earn (success)."
The Predators are on a 5-0-1 run.
"I think we've really been building here -- in the last three-and-a-half to four weeks -- the game that gives us the best chance to win," Predators coach John Hynes said. "I think we've been pretty consistent in that. With the games that we haven't been, we've still found a way to win and now we're on a road trip and we've won the first three games, so that's good. There's positive momentum, but we've got to regroup (Wednesday) and get ready for a good game against Toronto."
Defensemen scored two Nashville goals Monday as Roman Josi delivered his 10th of the season and the 150th of his career. Jeremy Lauzon scored his second.
"Even before we started winning, we were playing better hockey," said Nashville left winger Filip Forsberg, who added a goal and an assist Monday.
Forsberg leads Nashville in goals (16) and points (36).
--Field Level Media
Nashville Predators vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
Mattias Ekholm, P.K. Subban, Colton Sissons and Kevin Fiala each scored a goal, Pekka Rinne earned his third shutout this season and the visiting Nashville Predators defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 on Monday night.
Fiala, Ekholm and Sissons each added an assist.
Rinne stopped 18 shots in picking up his 54th career shutout as the Predators won their second game in a row and the fourth in five games after losing five straight.
It was the second time in the past four home games that the Maple Leafs have been shut out. They lost 4-0 to the New York Islanders on Dec. 29.
Toronto has lost three of four games since winning five in a row.
Michael Hutchinson stopped 28 shots in his third straight start for the Maple Leafs because of injuries to Frederik Andersen and Garret Sparks.
The Predators had a 9-7 edge in shots on goal in the first period, but the Maple Leafs had the better chances that included a hit goal post. Hutchinson made two good saves in the period.
The Maple Leafs started the second period on a power play after Ryan Johansen was penalized for tripping at 19:42 of the first period.
Nashville killed the penalty and scored a power-play goal at 4:08 of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Ekholm notched his fifth goal this season on a slap shot from the point. Craig Smith and Fiala earned assists. Toronto defenseman Nikita Zaitsev was serving an interference penalty.
The Maple Leafs thought they had tied the score shortly afterward when Auston Matthews put the puck in the net. The goal was nullified on a challenge, however, when a video review determined that the play was offside.
Subban scored his fourth goal of the season at 13:11 of the second, slapping a scorcher from the point through a screen that gave Nashville a 2-0 lead. Matt Irwin and Nick Bonino picked up assists.
Sissons scored his eighth goal this season on a backhander from in front of the goal at 17:23 of the third and Fiala scored his eighth at 19:22.
--Field Level Media
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