Senators Beat Predators 5-2, Extend Win Streak To 5 Games

Only one NHL game took place on Monday night, as the Nashville Predators hosted the Ottawa Senators. The visiting team aimed to strengthen its position in the Atlantic Division’s top three. Riding a four-game winning streak, the Senators entered Bridgestone Arena with plenty of confidence. The Predators, on the other hand, had lost their last four games and were looking to turn things around on home ice. Here is a period-by-period breakdown of the game.

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1st Period

A pretty uneventful first 15 minutes, with both teams having very few shots and scoring chances. At 15:28, Brady Tkachuk’s speedy zone entry from the middle forced Roman Josi to take a holding penalty. On the ensuing powerplay, the Senators managed to put the puck in the net, but the goal was disallowed. After video review, the call was that there was goaltender interference. Ottawa’s bench boss Travis Green challenged the call, only to lose and get a two minute delay of game penalty. Drake Batherson, the goal scorer, was pushed into the goalie, but his skates were in fact in the blue paint. The score remained 0-0.

2nd Period

3:59 into the period, Juuse Saros made a kick save off Jake Sanderson’s shot from the point. Corralling the rebound was Filip Forsberg, who pushed it to Vinnie Hinostroza to start the rush. Hinostroza passed to Roman Josi coming down the right wing, who backhanded it back to Forsberg, who then deked out the Senators goalie before sliding it five-hole. 1-0 Predators.

The Senators answered five minutes later when Sanderson sent David Perron a stretch pass on the breakout. He then found Tim Stutzle flying down the left wing and crashed the net, getting a weak shot on. Following that play was Adam Gaudette, who buried the rebound by batting the puck in the air for his 16th of the year. Tie game.

After Gaudette’s goal, the Senators really took control of the game, spending most of the period in Nashville’s zone. A few minutes later, Sanderson blasted a shot from the point that hit the crossbar. The puck landed on Matthew Highmore’s stick, who sent it back to Sanderson at the point. The 22-year-old defenseman walked the blue line to the middle and took a perfect shot to beat Saros and take the lead. 2-1 Senators.

Win the face-off ✅
Grab the rebound ✅
Pot the goal ✅
Celebrate with four of your best friends in the whole wide world ✅#GoSensGo pic.twitter.com/ZtxJkp0RkU

— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) February 4, 2025

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At the end of the second period, Travis Hamonic took a holding penalty on Gustav Nyquist, giving Nashville a chance to come back in the game early in the third.

3rd Period

The Predators tied the game 47 seconds in the third off a beautifully executed set play on the powerplay. Forsberg sent the puck down to Ryan O’Reilly, standing on the goal line, who then gave it to Jonathan Marchessault, who one-timed it on Anton Forsberg’s blocker side. This goal ended a zero-in-eleven powerplay scoring drought for Nashville. The game was tied up once again.

Ottawa reclaimed the lead at 6:17 after a Shane Pinto goal. On an offensive zone where he won the draw, Batherson took the puck and sent it to the point to Thomas Chabot. His low shot lead to a rebound buried by Pinto. This goal took the life out of the Nashville crowd.

At 12:57, Zachary L’Heureux got caught up behind the play with Chabot and slew-footed him. That put the Predators on the penalty kill against a hot powerplay as they were already trailing by one. David Perron scored his first as a Senator on that powerplay.

The Predators ended up pulling the goalie, and Ridley Greig scored the empty-netter for a 5-2 victory for the Senators.

This gave Ottawa their fifth win in a row, giving them just a little more breathing room in the tight Eastern Conference race. The Predators’ struggles continue, as they will have to choose very soon if they are sellers at the deadline.

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