Ottawa Senators collapse in the third, lose 3-2 to the Nashville Predators

The Ottawa Senators put in the sort of performance that they did so many times last season in a 3-2 loss to the Predators. Outshot for the entire game, the Senators took a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to a Kyle Turris goal and some solid goaltending from Craig Anderson. The Senators had a few chances to extend their lead and the Predators for all their possession were not creating too many dangerous chances. Ottawa was twenty minutes from opening the season with a victory.

[Game Summary] [Event Summary] [Faceoff Report] [Ice time]
[Corsi/Fenwick/Zone starts]

Then the third period happened (Source: Hockeystats.ca). First the Predators tied the game after some peculiar defending by Mark Borowieck leading to a tap-in for Craig Smith. Midway through the period, Erik Karlsson was turned inside out and while that didn't immediately lead to a goal, Shea Weber took the puck by the left boards, skated behind the net and wrapped it around into the net with both Anderson and Jared Cowen slow to react. Things got even worse for the Senators with an unlucky bounce on a breakout between Turris and Clarke MacArthur leading to an odd-man rush for the Predators. Eric Nystrom scored on a nice pass from Paul Gaustad and all of a sudden it was Nashville 3, Ottawa 1.

Alex Chiasson did make it an interesting finish, tipping in Cody Ceci's shot from distance for his first goal as a Senator. Ottawa did have a couple of half chances to tie the game and ended the game on a power play but the Predators skated away with a deserved victory, outshooting the Senators 37-20 on the night.

Sens zero: Jared Cowen
Fans were hoping that Cowen would turn things around over the summer. While Cowen had a decent start to the game, it ended up as a nightmarish start to the season for Cowen. It doesn't appear to be physical or injury related, he just doesn't seem to read the play well and is often too slow to react.

Sens zero: Paul MacLean
Playing Chris Phillips on the second pairing went about as bad as expected, but it wasn't his fault entirely. He should never have been put in that position. Scratching Patrick Wiercioch was a ridiculous move, keeping on with his baffling reluctance to play Wiercioch regularly. With the club's financial reliance on making the playoffs, MacLean can't afford to let this snowball into a bad start.

Sens hero: Hockey
Hockey is back and there are 81 more games to go.

Brad's donut (source: Brad)