NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After entering the Thursday night game with the NHL's second-best power play and ninth-best penalty kill, the Toronto Maple Leafs flaunted both to earn a critical two points.

Netting two goals with the man advantage and shutting down all five Nashville power plays, Toronto bagged a 3-1 win over the Predators at sold-out Bridgestone Arena.

Goalie Frederik Andersen (31-15-14) made 12 of his 29 saves in the third period, including five on Nashville's last power play. That included a critical stop on Kevin Fiala's tip of a point blast that deflected off Andersen's left arm and died inches short of a potential game-tying marker.

"We were battling hard, trying to keep the puck out," Andersen said. "They've got some skilled guys who know what to do, but I thought we did a good job with them most of the game."

Indeed, the Maple Leafs (37-24-15), who have at times made mistakes in their end that one would expect from such a young team, played solid defense for probably 55 of the 60 minutes. Aside from Filip Forsberg's 30th goal at 9:37, when they ceded far too much room to a lethal sniper, the Leafs mostly kept the Predators out of the top scoring areas.

In fact, Nashville (39-27-11) managed just one shot on net during its first four power plays, as it had trouble executing zone entries and then creating good looks.

"We were a little too cute in the first two periods," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "You get it into the offensive zone, you shoot the puck. It can hit anything. The whole game is about shooting the puck right now."

Working his 1,000th NHL game behind the bench, the last 241 with Nashville, Laviolette saw his opponent demonstrate what to do when it played 5-on-4.

Just 13 seconds after Austin Watson took an ill-advised roughing minor on Matt Martin at 18:29 of the first period, Toronto earned the lead for good. Nikita Zaitsev's point shot deflected off the stick of James van Riemsdyk and under Pekka Rinne's arm for van Riemsdyk's 24th tally of the season.

After the Predators misfired on three man-advantage opportunities in a nine-minute span in the second period, the Maple Leafs made it 2-0 when they went back to the power play. With Mike Fisher in the box for slashing Tyler Bozak, Auston Matthews extended his franchise rookie record for goals.

Connor Brown found Matthews in the high slot and the 19-year-old unleashed a wrister off Rinne's right shoulder that bounced into the net at 18:43, his 36th marker of the season.

"That was a real nice play by everybody," Matthews said. "Special teams are a huge part of the game. We bounced back tonight with two on the power play after we didn't score the game before, and the penalty kill was real solid, even though we took too many penalties."

That was just about it for the Toronto offense, which managed just two more shots -- relying on Andersen, who returned from a jaw injury that sidelined him from a 3-2 win over Florida on Tuesday.

The last shot sealed the game, though, as Brown won a race to a loose puck, with Rinne off for a sixth attacker, and tallied his 19th goal at 19:01 of the third period.

Rinne (30-18-8) saved 14 of 16 shots but saw his six-game home winning streak end. Nashville missed an opportunity to jump over idle St. Louis for third place in the Central Division. The Predators still trail the Blues by a point.

The Predators also remain a point behind Calgary for the first wild card in the Western Conference, although they stayed 10 points ahead of Los Angeles for the second wild card.

Meanwhile, the Maple Leafs maintained a one-point lead over Boston for third place in the Atlantic Division and improved to 17-14-8 on the road. Toronto is two points behind the second-place Ottawa Senators.

"It's starting to feel like a playoff hockey game every time you're out there," said Maple Leafs center Mitchell Marner, whose secondary assist on the first goal gave him a franchise rookie record 41. "It lets us know what it will be like if we make it there."

NOTES: Toronto loaned G Garret Sparks to its AHL affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, with the return of starter Frederik Andersen to the lineup. ... Nashville C Mike Fisher (lower-body injury) returned to the lineup after a four-game absence, but D Yannick Weber (upper-body injury) missed his third straight game. ... The Maple Leafs scratched D Alexey Marchenko, RW Ben Smith, C Eric Fehr, RW Nikita Soshnikov, LW Josh Leivo and D Martin Marincin . ... Predators scratches in addition to Weber were RW Craig Smith (upper-body), D Brad Hunt, LW Harry Zolnierczyk and C Vernon Fiddler.