Nashville Predators, Mattias Ekholm filibuster Senators in 3-1 victory
The Nashville Predators opened a three-game homestand by defeating the Ottawa Senators, remaining atop the Central Division.
It was a much needed two points. Earlier in the evening, the Winnipeg Jets took down the team by Lake Michigan, gaining a single point lead over the Nashville Predators. Mattias Ekholm and his teammates had other ideas. With a strong defensive effort, the Predators impeached the Senators, 3-1.
Things did not start off well. Within the first 30-seconds of the opening puck drop, Zack Smith pushed the puck by Pekka Rinne. But, strong defense and penalty killing propelled the Predators the rest of the way. Before the first period ended, Austin Watson tied the match by deflecting Ekholm’s wrister into the net.
It was what tied the game, but not what won it. Granted, the Senators are the worst team in the NHL in CorsiFor. Their 42.65% is three percentage points lower than the next best team. And the Predators are in the top seven in the league. It showed last night.
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Nashville used their team defense to smother Ottawa. They limited the Senators to 26 total shots on goal with 42 attempts while gaining 36 SOG of their own. Additionally, the Predators created 12 high-danger chances and allowing only 7. It is the lowest they allowed during 5v5 since playing the Avalanche. Their 19 takeaways certainly didn’t hurt either.
Mattias Ekholm led the team all night long. Playing over 20 minutes during 5v5, Ekholm finished with a CorsiFor of 63.04%. While not the best of all the players on the team, the Predators had 29 shot attempts with Ekholm was on the ice. They also had 16 scoring chances with Ekholm including 10 HDCF. The Senators only gained four scoring chances while facing Ekholm. Two of the goals, including Watson’s tip-in, were on Ekholm’s watch. The second goal came from great effort by Craig Smith.
There was another unsung hero in during the game. It was the Nashville Predators’ third line. If you look at their CorsiFor ratings, they were manhandled by the Senators. Neither Watson, Colton Sissons, nor Nick Bonino finished with a rating higher than 49%. Bonino was the lowest of the team at 39.29%. They may have been outshot, but the trio allowed only four scoring chances and two high-danger opportunities. Bonino led the team in takeaways, while Sissons won 90% of his faceoffs.
Sissons and Bonino saw more time on the penalty kill than any other Predators forwards. The Senators had only a single shot during that time, the same as the kill.
Of course, Pekka Rinne continued to play at Vezina levels.
Next. With Seattle in, Preds face challenges. dark
All in all, it was a defensive win. The Nashville Predators went back to basics, to their identity as a defensive team. It worked against one of the lower-tiered teams in the league. Next, it is a rematch with the Vancouver Canucks.