NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators' media relations staff has taken to calling the year's second month Fil-bruary.

If Filip Forsberg keeps scoring like this, more people might take the hint.

Becoming the first NHL player in seven years to notch hat tricks in back-to-back games, Forsberg led Nashville to a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night in Bridgestone Arena.

After potting a pair of goals in the second period -- the period in which he scored his three goals Tuesday night in a 6-5 overtime loss to Calgary -- Forsberg joined Vancouver's Alexandre Burrows as the only players this decade with the triple-double by bagging an empty-netter at 19:23 of the third.

That gave Forsberg 22 markers for the year and enabled the sellout crowd to fire a barrage of hats and ski caps on the ice for a second straight game.

Forsberg joked he might have last accomplished consecutive hat tricks when he was 10 years old, playing youth hockey in his native Sweden.

"I'm just trying to impact the game, go fast and go forward," he said. "I thought our line did a good job. We got a couple of goals and some good looks."

It could have been a four-goal night for Forsberg, but he was stoned at the goalmouth by Avalanche rookie goalie Jeremy Smith early in the first period. However, Smith couldn't come up with the answers when Forsberg erased a 2-1 Colorado lead in the second period.

Less than three minutes after Patrick Wiercioch's soft backhander bounced over Pekka Rinne's glove to give the Avalanche their short-lived edge, Forsberg solved Smith with a wrister from a sharp angle at 5:26, flicking it short-side over his right shoulder.

Forsberg then presented the Predators (29-22-9) with the lead for good with a wrister off a clean faceoff win from Ryan Johansen. The quick-release shot appeared to hit Smith's catching mitt and trickle over the goal line at 10:59.

"He's an elite player, and he just keeps impressing myself and everyone else in this organization," Johansen said. "The way he's shooting the puck, shooting it hard and quick, you just try to get him the puck as much as you can."

It's the second consecutive season in which Forsberg is lighting up during the final week of February. He bagged his first career hat trick on Feb. 23, 2016, in Toronto, then came back on Feb. 27 with three more goals in a home win over St. Louis.

After tallying only three goals in his first 30 games this season, Forsberg has 19 in his past 30 games, giving him an outside chance at matching or surpassing last year's total of 33.

"I don't know if you can sense an actual goal-scoring run, but you can see if somebody is on their game," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said of Forsberg. "Players like Fil who have the ability to get the puck off their stick and release it quickly, it's only a matter of time."

Forsberg's big night enabled the Predators to tie the idle Blues for third place in the Central Division while staying a point ahead of Calgary, a 3-2 winner in Tampa Bay, for the Western Conference's top wild-card spot.

Viktor Arvidsson scored Nashville's first goal at 11:31 of the first period, nine seconds after power-play time ended for a goaltender-interference call on Andreas Martinsen. Set up by Craig Smith at the goalmouth, Arvidsson rammed home his 19th goal.

Jarome Iginla's 619th career marker evened the score at 17:52 for the Avalanche (16-40-3). John Mitchell's backhander struck Iginla's skate and got between Rinne's pads for Iginla's eighth goal of the season.

Trying to avoid its eighth loss in nine games, Colorado managed to take a quick lead. However, Forsberg single-handedly moved the guests one defeat closer to the first overall choice in June's NHL Draft while making history.

"The second period was an unacceptable period," first-year Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "They're a dangerous team, and we had a couple of breakdowns that cost us scores."

Rinne (23-15-6) made 20 saves, while Jeremy Smith (0-2-0) stopped 25 of 28 shots in his second NHL game.

NOTES: Colorado's Jarome Iginla played in his 1,534th career game, 13th all-time and second among active players only to Florida's Jaromir Jagr. ... Nashville LW Harry Zolnierczyk drew back into the lineup Thursday night after being scratched from Tuesday night. He replaced C Colton Sissons. ... The Avalanche scratched D Nikita Zadorov and RW Rene Bourque, who remain out with injuries. ... The Predators' scratches besides Sissons were D Anthony Bitetto and D Brad Hunt.