Filip Forsberg had two goals with an assist during Nashville's four-goal second period and Juuse Saros made 32 saves while his shutout streak ended Tuesday night when the visiting Predators beat the Montreal Canadiens 4-2 for their third straight victory.
Coming off back-to-back shutouts over Dallas, Saros went 181:07 without yielding a goal before Montreal's Artturi Lehkonen scored amid heavy pressure at 2:45 into the third period.
Forsberg, meanwhile, highlighted Nashville's breakout second period, which also featured goals from Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok. Fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, the Predators (35-26-8, 78 points) are undefeated in three straight games following a three-game slide, and they are 2-0-0 on a season-high five-game trip.
Down 4-0, Montreal (31-31-9, 71 points) made things interesting with two goals in the final period. Following Lehkonen's 13th of the season, Lukas Vejdemo scored the first of his career on a one-timer right in front of Saros with 11:20 to play in regulation. However, Saros, who tied a career high with 17 wins, continued to come up big against Montreal, which dropped its third straight overall and fifth in a row against the Predators.
Following a scoreless first period, Nashville got on the board just 51 seconds into the middle frame via Johansen, who ended a five-game point drought. A little over two minutes later, Jarnkrok blasted a Kyle Turris faceoff-win from the right circle past Montreal's Carey Price (32 saves) at 2:57 into the second.
Forsberg, who assisted on Johansen's goal, got in on the goal-scoring fun with his 20th. With 11:42 left in the second period, he scored inside of the post for Nashville's fourth power-play goal in as many games.
With four minutes left in the period, Forsberg recorded his second multi-goal game of the season. This time, burying the puck after it slightly deflected off teammate Roman Josi (two assists). With the goal, Forsberg matched current Canadian Shea Weber for second on the Predators' all-time goal list with 166.
--Field Level Media
Nashville | Montreal | |
Filip Forsberg 3 | Points | Artturi Lehkonen 1 |
Filip Forsberg 2 | Goals | Artturi Lehkonen 1 |
Roman Josi 2 | Assists | Jake Evans 1 |
Filip Forsberg 1 | Power Play Goals | N/A |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Juuse Saros .941 | Save Percentage | Carey Price .889 |
Juuse Saros 32 | Saves | Carey Price 32 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
Nashville | 36 | 4 | 1-4 | 2-2 | 4 | 34 |
Montreal | 34 | 2 | 0-2 | 3-4 | 8 | 21 |