NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Filip Forsberg scored three goals for his ninth career hat trick and led the Nashville Predators to a 4-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabers on Thursday night. lead.
Luke Evangelista also scored and Juuse Saros made 26 saves for Nashville, which is 9-0-1 in its last 10 games. Gustav Nyquist had three assists.
“He has it all,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said of Forsberg. “When he gets into shape like that, when he's playing a power forward game instead of a full skill game, he puts his power forward and his skill comes behind him. It's a deadly combination.”
Bowen Byram had a goal and an assist, Owen Power also had a goal and Eric Comrie made 21 saves for Buffalo, which has lost three straight.
“We knew we were probably going to battle fatigue tonight,” Buffalo coach Don Granato said. “We just couldn't get it done. There were some good things, but obviously the result wasn't what we wanted.”
Forsberg scored the first goal of the game 3:53 into the opening period on a power play against Nashville with a wrist shot from the bottom of the right faceoff circle that went over Comrie's glove.
Forsberg extended his point streak to seven games, one game away from matching his career high. During his streak, he recorded seven goals and five assists.
“I think we're playing pretty good hockey,” Forsberg said. “It's a pretty solid effort with four lines and three D pairs, and we're also getting great goaltending. This is obviously something we have to continue to build on.”
A day after Buffalo acquired the defenseman from Colorado State to replace forward Casey Mittelstadt, Byram responded just 30 seconds later, scoring his first point for the Sabres. Byram was the best-rested of the Sabers players, as his new teammates lost in overtime at Toronto on Wednesday night and arrived in Nashville early in the morning.
“I'm glad I got it out of the way,” Byram said. “Obviously, the first game against my new team doesn't end the way I wanted it to, but that's the way things are. I'm going to go back to Buffalo now and get my life sort of in order and get ready to play again.”
Nashville's power play struck again with 3:45 left in the first, when Evangelista tapped in from just outside the crease off a pass from Mark Jankowski to score.
“I'm finding my game and winning some more fights,” Evangelista said. “Especially during this time, if you can create something and have a positive impact on the game, that's huge. But it's not just me. Everyone is finding their game right now. is”
The Predators have scored multiple power play goals in two of their last three games.
Forsberg scored his 31st goal of the season with a backhand shot just under the crossbar at 1:48 of the third.
Forsberg completed his hat trick with a return goal at 6:43 of the third.
Power scored with 7:52 remaining for the Sabres.
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Sabers: Host Edmonton on Saturday.
Predators: Visit Columbus on Saturday. —
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