TORONTO -- The No. 9 was a popular number with the Nashville Predators on Tuesday.

Left winger Filip Forsberg scored the first three goals of the game and the Predators held on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 and have earned at least a point in nine straight road games.

The natural hat trick gave Forsberg nine goals in his past nine games.

And the 21-year-old just happens to wear uniform No. 9.

"It was great," Forsberg said. "Obviously, it put our team in a good spot with 3-0. It was all that we needed for tonight. The team has been playing a way better the last six or seven or eight games, I'm just glad to be able help."

Predators coach Peter Laviolette said the line of Forsberg, center Mike Ribeiro and right winger Craig Smith is playing well.

"Certainly Filip is playing well but so are Ribeiro and Smith," Laviolette said. "Right now they're a hard line to stop."

Defenseman Roman Josi added two assists for the Predators (29-21-11).

Left winger Josh Leivo and defenseman Morgan Rielly scored for the Maple Leafs in the third period.

Centers Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland each had two assists for Toronto while goaltender James Reimer made 23 saves.

Nashville goaltender Carter Hutton stopped 25 shots in his 11th game of the season.

The Predators were coming off a 2-1 shootout win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.

The Maple Leafs (20-28-10) have lost four games in a row.

"We're doing a lot of good things right now." Laviolette said. "It's not an easy back-to-back when a team is waiting for you. I thought our guys competed hard, played smart and did some good things."

The Predators led 1-0 after the first period and 3-0 after the second period.

The Maple Leafs snapped the shutout on a power play goal at 2:23 of the third period when Leivo scored his third goal of the season from the slot. It came with eight seconds left in a hooking penalty to Josi.

Rielly scored his sixth goal of the season at 17:37 of the third with Reimer out for an extra attacker.

"We didn't play a bad game at all," Maple Leafs right winger Pierre-Alexandre Parenteau said. "We showed some resiliency. We played OK. Guys are working for jobs. There are a lot of guys with a lot to prove, everyone in this room pretty much so the effort will be there."

The Leafs have been busy trading players the build for the future.

"You want your guys to play hard, you want them to be organized," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said. "We understand what we've done to our team. ...So you get opportunities and we're looking for players and some guys separate themselves from others and you go from there."

The Predators took a 1-0 lead on a power play when Forsberg scored his first goal of the game on a nifty move, going from his backhand to forehand to beat Reimer after Ribeiro's pass put him in the clear. The goal came at 5:46 of the first period, 35 seconds after Toronto center Peter Holland was penalized for elbowing.

"I like the way we started to be honest with you," Babcock said. "I thought we had everything going perfect, not much was going on. They went to dump it in on the power play and fanned on it and then the next thing you know their guy is in home free on a breakaway."

The Maple Leafs came out strong to begin the second period and defenseman Jake Gardiner rang a shot off the post behind Hutton in the first minute.

The Predators withstood the pressure and took a 2-0 lead at 3:40 of the second period on the second goal of the game by Forsberg, a shot from the slot that trickled past Reimer.

Forsberg scored his third of the game and 23rd of the season on a rebound at 5:36 of the second period and Nashville led 3-0. The goal came on Nashville's 10th shot of the game.

Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis had a goal disallowed at 17:55 when a video review determined that it followed an offside.

The Predators were playing without defenseman Shea Weber, who was out with a lower-body injury.

NOTES: The Maple Leafs recalled D Stuart Percy and LW Brendan Leipsic from the Toronto Marlies of the AHL on Monday. The Predators traded Leipsic to the Maple Leafs last year. ... The Maple Leafs sent D Roman Polak and C Nick Spaling to the San Jose Sharks for second-round draft picks in 2017-18 and LW Raffi Torres on Monday. They acquired a 2016 fourth-round pick and C Colin Smith from the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday for C Shawn Matthias. ... After a two-game break, Nashville G Pekka Rinne has a 0.97 goals-against average and a .966 save percentage in three games, including the 2-1 shootout win on Monday at Montreal. G Carter Hutton started for Nashville on Tuesday. ... Toronto is home to the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday. ... The Predators wind up a three-game trip on Thursday against the Chicago Blackhawks.