TORONTO (AP) - Auston Matthews scored twice, Ilya Samsonov made 18 saves for his first shutout of the season and the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Nashville Predators 4-0 on Saturday night.
Samsonov has 11 NHL shutouts. He got the start after Joseph Woll sprained an ankle Thursday night in a 4-3 victory in Ottawa.
David Kampf and Noah Gregor, into an empty net, also scored to help Toronto improve to 14-6-4. William Nylander added two assists, and John Tavares had one for his 998th career point.
Kevin Lankinen stopped 33 shots for Nashville. The Predators had won three in a row and nine of 11.
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Kampf opened the scoring with 5:45 left in the second period when he took a pass from Conor Timmins, split two defenders and roofed a shot for his third goal of the season
Matthews doubled that lead with 2:03 left in the period when Lankinen could only get a piece of William Nylander's pass on a give-and-go off the rush.
Matthews added his 18th of the season with 3:11 left in the game. Gregor added the empty-netter with Toronto killing a penalty with under two minutes to go.
Toronto defenseman Jake McCabe delivered a huge hit on Luke Evangelista in the third and then dropped the gloves with Kiefer Sherwood.
UP NEXT
Predators: At Montreal on Sunday night.
Maple Leafs: At New York Islanders on Monday night.
Nashville Predators
Toronto Maple Leafs
Game Capsensus
NHL
FINAL (12/9/2023)
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