NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Things got a little out of hand -- in more ways than one -- during the Nashville Predators' 7-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Saturday night.

Forward Craig Smith's three first-period points -- as many as he scored in the Predators' first 15 games -- sparked Nashville to an early four-goal lead on the way to its second seven-goal game of the season and the homestand after a 7-5 win over Ottawa five days ago.

"It definitely feels good when things are going right," said Smith, who scored a goal and assisted on two to help make it a short night for Winnipeg starting goalkeeper Michael Hutchinson. "Everybody has been playing well. We've got confidence to make plays in all areas of the ice.

"We did a lot of good things, staying in the moment. There's a way you want to play every single night."

As the goals went up, so did the degree of chippiness, though, as the two teams eventually combined for 156 penalty minutes.

At one point in the third period, there were six players from each team in the penalty box as a result of 10 unsportsmanlike calls, along with a slashing penalty and a leaving the crease infraction against Nashville goalkeeper Pekka Rinne.

"You never know what's going to happen," Predators coach Peter Laviolette said. "You've got to be ready to play the game. I thought we did a good job of staying focused. Our games with Winnipeg have been hard-fought, low-scoring chance games. When a game like this happens, you have to be prepared for it."

Nashville took a 1-0 lead less than five minutes into the game when center Calle Jarnkrok scored off the left wing with Cody Hodgson and Barret Jackman assisting. Just over a minute later, Smith took a pass in front of the goal and slid it past Hutchinson (with defenseman Seth Jones and left winger Filip Forsberg credited with assists) for a 2-0 lead.

With eight minutes remaining in the period, Jones drilled one in from the Jets' blue line off assists from Smith and center Mike Ribeiro, spelling the end of Hutchinson's night. Ondrej Pavelec came on in relief for Winnipeg (8-8-2), and Ribeiro greeted him two minutes later off assists from Smith and defenseman Ryan Ellis to make it 4-0.

Left winger James Neal scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season less than three minutes into the second period with assists from center Colin Wilson and defenseman Roman Josi, extending the Nashville margin to 5-0.

"They got on us real quick, and as soon as things started to go bad, we had a very difficult time doing some simple things -- moving our feet at the right speed and making some simple plays," Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice said. "There were obviously some tension and some confidence issues, but we weren't at the same speed as they were. That's the bottom line."

Midway through the second period, Jones was clipped near center ice and went flying, touching off a series of skirmishes that kept the officiating crew busy.

Winnipeg left winger Adam Lowry and right winger Chris Thorburn received five-minute fighting penalties, as did Nashville center Colton Sissons and Jackman. Thorburn and Jackman received misconduct calls as well.

Stuart and Nashville left winger Austin Watson each drew two-minute unsportsmanlike penalties.

"I've never seen one like that," Maurice said after his team racked up 84 penalty minutes. "They made some good breakout plays, and they handled it well. Obviously, they killed us on the penalty kill (0-4). We had three forwards on the ice and we're chasing the puck around. But no, I've never seen a game end up like that one."

Nashville's 72 penalty minutes were the third most in franchise history for a game.

Jarnkrok and defenseman Mattias Ekholm added power-play goals in the final 10 minutes -- Jarnkrok with assists from Ellis and Jones, Ekholm with feeds by Hodgson and Neal.

The Jets managed just 16 shots on goal as Rinne turned in his second shutout of the year.

For the Predators, the win was their second of a five-game homestand that concludes Tuesday against Anaheim.

NOTES: The Predators had not lost consecutive games this season. Nashville dropped a 2-1 shootout decision Thursday to visiting Toronto. ... Predators defensemen have scored the most goals and the third-most points of any group of defenders in the NHL. D Roman Josi leads with 11 points (four goals, seven assists). Overall, Nashville's stoppers have 14 goals and 27 assists, trailing Dallas (46 points, 10 goals) and Montreal (43 points, five goals). ... In its last trip to Nashville, Winnipeg won 3-1 on March 7. ... Winnipeg scratches were D Adam Pardy, D Paul Postma and RW Anthony Peluso. Nashville scratches were D Anthony Bitetto, C Paul Gaustad and D Victor Bartley.