In Toronto, the Maple Leafs’ d Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves for a 4-0 shutout of the Nashville Predators on Saturday. 
“[It felt] great,” Samsonov said. “Long time no see, you guys (the media). Feel good. Great game for us, like how we’re working on the ice, blocking shots, how we score the goal, how we’re fighting [for] each other. It was great for us.”
Auston Matthews hit for a double in the win.
“Really solid, I just thought [Samsonov] looked calm and poised in the net,” Matthews said. “I thought we did a really good job, probably one of our most consistent games of the year forechecking, hounding their [defensemen] and being able to keep pucks alive in the offensive zone, and when he had to come up with some big saves and stops, he did, so it was really good to see.”
The Maple Leafs improved to 14-6-4.
After a scoreless first period, the Maple Leafs hit for a pair of goals in the middle frame.
Toronto’s David Kampf struck at 14:15 of the middle frame for a 1-0 lead.
“It was a nice pass by Timmins,” Kampf said, “and I tried to get good speed and get behind their defenseman and tried to put it to the net and it went in, so I was happy.
“I would say it’s probably more like instinct, I just tried to put it up. I wasn’t too much thinking about it.”
Matthews hit for the first of his double at 17:57 for a 2-0 advantage.
“We just turned pucks over, lose too many battles,” Nashville forward Colton Sissons said. “We really didn’t have a whole lot of time in the offensive zone just in general. It’s on us, it wasn’t us tonight.
Nashville dropped to 14-13-0.
“They were smothering, they took away time and space,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We weren’t ready for the speed of the game, we didn’t manage the puck. We did a lot of things that equal losing hockey.”
In the third period, Matthews hit for his double, off the power play, at 16:49
“There were a few (plays in the third) we’d like to manage better, but I just thought all game we had a real patient approach,” Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said. “In the second period especially, our game started to really come, and I thought we really took care of the puck and made sure we just were wearing them down and not really let their game get started offensively, and I thought through that over time we could break them down. … I just loved our second period and that set us up for the third, which the guys took care of well.”
Noah Gregor hit for a shorthanded marker at 18:29 for the 4-0 final count.
“We just kept staying on it,” Toronto’s William Nylander said, “and making a little bit smarter decisions with the puck maybe and putting it in instead of trying to make small plays. And spending time in the offensive zone, not letting them get on our half so much.”
Kevin Lankinen made 33 saves in the loss
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