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John Tavares leads the way as Maple Leafs edge Predators to come home on winning note

Nashville Predators centre Matt Duchene (95) hits the boards as he goes for a puck against Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday. Tavares had two goals and an assist in the game.
Nashville Predators centre Matt Duchene (95) hits the boards as he goes for a puck against Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday. Tavares had two goals and an assist in the game. Photo by Christopher Hanewinckel /USA TODAY Sports

John Tavares had two goals and an assist as the Maple Leafs ended a five-game trip in the proper way on Sunday.

The Leafs beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 at Bridgestone Arena, finishing with three wins and two losses on the trip. 

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Toronto improved to 44-20-9 and 97 points. That’s enough for a seven-point lead on the Tampa Bay Lightning for second place in the Atlantic Division, and the Leafs have one game in hand.   

Both of Tavares’ goals came on the power play. He slammed a Morgan Rielly rebound past Predators goalie Kevin Lankinen with five minutes to go, a goal that stood up as the winner. 

In the first, Tavares stuffed a pass from Mitch Marner, playing in his 500th National Hockey League game, on the short side on Lankinen.

Goaltender Joseph Woll came to within less than eight minutes of his second shutout in the NHL.

The Predators scored at 12:37 of the third during a power play when Cody Glass deflected a point shot by Tyson Barrie to get within one. 

After Tavares’ second goal, Barrie scored with less than two minutes to play when his shot went off Justin Holl and in.

Woll finished with 23 saves. 

The Leafs, who lost in Carolina on Saturday, improved to 8-3-1 in the second game of back-to-back sets. They will have a day off on Monday and will practise on Tuesday before playing host to the Florida Panthers on Wednesday.

Tavares had gone seven games without a goal, his longest skid of the season. The assist on Tavares’ first goal extended Marner’s point streak to 10 games. 

The Leafs added to their lead at 1:02 of the second period when Tavares sent in Alex Kerfoot, who ripped a shot over Lankinen’s glove. 

tkoshan@postmedia.com

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