Senators Ride Strong Second Period to Win, Beat Predators 3-2

A recap of tonight's game between the Nashville Predators and Ottawa Senators.

After 11 days off, Robin Lehner was back between the pipes for the Senators against Nashville Thursday night. An early Colin Greening penalty sent the potent Nashville offense to the power play. Shea Weber made the Senators pay, with a perfectly placed top-shelf slapshot from the point to put Ottawa in the early hole. Ottawa struggled for much of the period to sustain offensive pressure and took a second penalty midway through the period after being stuck in the defensive zone for a long shift. With Kyle Turris in the box, the Preds generated some chances, but the Sens were able to kill off the penalty. The Senators didn't generate much for the rest of the period. The period finished 4-on-4 after a terrible diving call against Clarke MacArthur and with Nashville ahead by one. Shots 9-4 in favour of the Predators.

The second period was much better from the Senators. Ottawa spent much of the period in the Nashville end and that pressure paid off with three goals in the middle part of the frame. Bobby Ryan squared things on the power play with a wrist shot after a nice feed from Erik Karlsson. Six minutes later, Alex Chiasson notched his fifth of the year by tipping in a Cody Ceci offering to give the Senators the lead. A couple minutes later JARED COWEN wired home the eventual game winner to give Ottawa a 3-1 lead. The Senators took a two-goal advantage to the dressing room and outshot the Predators 12-10 in the period.

The third period started poorly for Ottawa. Sens miscues in the Ottawa zone allowed Olli Jokinen, of all people, to score off a fortunate bounce 1:16 into the period. With Nashville within one, the Predators pressured the Senators for much of the period, peppering the Ottawa net with 16 shots as the home team was unable to deal with Nashville's attacking pressure. Fortunately for Ottawa, Lehner was equal to the task especially late in the game. Once again, strong goaltending seals a victory for the Sens. Nashville did outshoot Ottawa 35-19.

Sens Hero: Robin Lehner

The Lehner was immense tonight. Beaten by a rocket from Shea Weber on the power play in the first and a strange bounce to start the third, Lehner turned away everything else for a 94.3 SV%. It was the kind of rebound performance he needed and he delivered.

Sens Hero: Jared Cowen

Jared Cowen scored the game winner. Jared Cowen.

B_T's Donut:

Game Flow via Natural Stat Trick:

Shot chart via ESPN:

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