OTTAWA — Considering their current playoff situation and the opponent of the evening, the Nashville Predators desperately needed a win Thursday.
They got it.
Ryan Johansen scored the winning goal on the power play at 12:38 of the third period, but it didn’t come without controversy as the Predators defeated the Ottawa Senators 3-2.
Roman Josi’s point shot looked to be knocked down by a high Matt Duchesne stick before Johansen tapped the puck in.
The play went under review but the goal stood.
“I thought it was but there was no clear proof that he touched it,” Senators coach DJ Smith explained. “It’s unfortunate and I thought at first it was, but after looking at it you can’t tell.”
Duchesne and Tanner Jeannot had the other goals for the Preds while Josi chipped in with three assists. Nashville (41-25-4) also got a 28-save performance form Juuse Saros.
“We talk lots about mental toughness and physical toughness, and those are the things. Ottawa’s a hard team to play against,” Nashville's John Hynes said before throwing some praise at his captain Josi, who has 19 goals and 87 points in 68 games.
“I think his numbers speak [for themselves], but I just think it’s really impressive. All of us, the coaches, the players, all of you guys, the fan base, you’re around a player that is a highly, highly talented guy, unbelievable character, the way that he plays the game, continual improvement. He’s a special player, he’s a special guy, he’s a special leader.”
Mathieu Joseph and Josh Norris scored the goals for the Senators (26-38-6) who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Anton Forsberg made 31 saves in the loss.
“I thought the guys battled hard. (Forsberg) was so good in net for us, so was Saros,” said Joseph, who has 10 points in his last four games.
“It was a hard game. We knew they needed a win and they played hard from the get go. Some unfortunate bounces for us but I really liked the effort from the guys.”
Norris gave the Senators their first lead of the game at 4:36 of the third period as his pass attempt hit Dante Fabbro’s skate, came right back to him and then he beat Saros for a 2-1 lead.
The lead didn’t last long as Josi blasted a shot from 10-feet inside the blue line that Jeannot tipped past Forsberg at 7:48 to tie the game at 2-2.
There was a lot going on through two periods Thursday. A lot of energy, a lot of scoring opportunities, a lot of animosity. What there wasn’t a lot of, though, was finishing.
Through 40 minutes there were 81 shot attempts, 42 hits, 32 penalty minutes but just two goals. That despite the fact the Senators missed back-to-back break away opportunities in the second period and a minute and 16 seconds of five-on-three spanning the final 30 seconds of the first period and into the second period.
“We played hard, we checked, I believe we out chanced them, but they found a way in the end. I would like to see us be more dangerous six-on-five,” Smith said. We’ve got to shoot some pucks and we just kind of killed the clock. The effort was there.”
The lone goal of the first came on a slow moving two-on-one that saw Duchesne slip a crease-crease pass from Mikael Granlund past Forsberg at 8:32 giving the Predators a 1-0 lead.
In the second period, Austin Watson was stopped by Saros on one breakaway and Alex Formenton missed the net on another. The Senators finally got on the board as Joseph scored on an incredible breakaway pass from Erik Brannstrom.
From the top of the faceoff circle in his own end, Brannstrom hit Joseph in stride crossing over the Predators blue line and Joseph beat Saros at 15:32 to tie the game 1-1.
NOTES: Senators forward Cole Reinhardt played his first NHL game Thursday … Josh Norris extended his point streak to a career-high seven games with his third period goal … Tim Stutzle, Drake Batherson, Dylan Gambrell, Jake Sanderson and Victor Mete were the scratches for the Senators Thursday while Matt Benning, Ben Harpur, Jeremy Davies and Michael McCarron were scratches for the Predators … Chris Schlenker and Jake Brenk were the referees Thursday. Libor Suchanek and Travis Gawryletz were the linesmen … The Senators will play against the Rangers in New York Saturday while the Predators are home to the Florida Panthers the same night.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 7, 2022.
Darren Desaulniers, The Canadian Press
