Pekka Rinne, Predators stifle Senators

NASHVILLE -- Pekka Rinne made 33 saves to help give the Nashville Predators a 3-1 win against the Ottawa Senators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.
Rinne improved to 3-4-3 this season.
"I'm feeling confident," Rinne said. "I feel comfortable on the ice. I'm feeling good and feeling good about my game. Obviously I've been in this League for a long time, and still at the end of the day it's all about you're expected to win and getting the results."

James Neal gave the Predators a 1-0 lead 46 seconds into the second period on a wrist shot from the slot. P.K. Subban drew a penalty and kept the play alive with a pass to Roman Josi, who found Neal in the slot. Neal shot it past Senators goaltender Craig Anderson for his third of the season.
WATCH: All Senators vs. Predators highlights
"We need to get some wins," Josi said. "I thought we did a good job tonight. We had a lot of chances, and I thought we played a really, really good game for three periods and got rewarded with the win tonight."
Subban gave the Predators a 2-0 lead at 3:52 of the second on a wrist shot from the point. He took a pass from Neal and sent a shot that made its way through traffic and past Anderson.
"The first 10 games, to be honest with you, I don't think I've really been at my best," Subban said. "I don't know why that is but just fluid and skating out there, and this game I just felt better, felt I had my legs [with] me. When I feel that way, I can create and open up some space. I had some room to skate with it a couple of times."

Ryan Ellis gave the Predators a 3-0 lead at 2:23 of the third period on a slap shot from the point. Ellis received a pass from Filip Forsberg from the left faceoff circle and shot the puck past Anderson.
Senators forward Kyle Turris scored to make it 3-1 at 5:30 of the third on a one-timer from the slot. Ryan Dzingel made a pass from behind the net to Turris, who was able to one-time the puck past Rinne for his sixth goal of the season.
"They are a free-wheeling team," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "They've got high-end skill and we didn't want to fall into their game, but we did. We tried to get it back after that, and we hurt ourselves. We had a push in the third, but we couldn't get that second one there to keep that push going. We got away from how we play."
The Predators recalled forward Pontus Aberg and goaltender Juuse Saros from Milwaukee of the American Hockey League on Tuesday. They sent forward Kevin Fiala and goaltender Marek Mazanec down.
Anderson made 27 saves for Ottawa.

Goal of the game

Neal scored the first goal of the game on a quick passing play from Subban and Josi. Subban fought off Senators defenders to keep the puck in the zone and made a backhand pass to Josi, who found Neal in the slot for the goal.

Save of the game

Rinne made a save in the slot on Senators forward Bobby Ryan in the first period that kept the game 0-0 while the Senators were controlling the play.

Unsung moment of the game

Subban drew a penalty that gave the Predators a man-advantage with the extra attacker on the delayed penalty that led to Neal's goal.

Highlight of the game

Ellis scored the third goal for the Predators on a slap shot from the point for his first goal. Forsberg was able to make the pass to Ellis through traffic to get the puck to the point, and Ellis beat Anderson above the shoulder.

They said it

"It was an incredible save. At the time it was huge because the game, you're waiting to see what's going to happen in the game, and we're trying to take steps in the right direction. We really needed that save. We needed [Rinne] to be a great player for us tonight, and he was. For me, it's just more of what we've seen from him in the last four, five, six games. He's been really sharp." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette on Pekka Rinne's save in the first period

Need to know

Turris leads the Senators with six goals, and Dzingel is tied with Turris for second on the Senators with eight points. Anderson dropped to 6-3-0 on the season. Forsberg has no goals through 12 games after leading the Predators with 33 goals last season.

What's next

Senators: At the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVA Sports, SN, MSG-B, NHL.TV)
Predators: Home against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-MW, FS-TN, NHL.TV)