Power play guides Predators past Senators

NASHVILLE --The Nashville Predators moved into a tie for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference with a 3-2 win against the Ottawa Senators at Bridgestone Arena on Tuesday.

Ryan Ellis had a goal and an assist, and Juuse Saros made 33 saves for the Predators (31-23-8), who went 2-for-3 on the power play and are 5-1-1 in their past seven games.
"More or less, it's]*
Craig Anderson made 30 saves for the Senators (21-31-12), who were playing the second of a back-to-back and are 0-3-1 in their past four games.
"We played really hard," Senators coach D.J. Smith said. "Five-on-five, we outscored them. Special teams hurt us tonight. Our penalty kill gave up two and our power play didn't score (0-for-2), but we played really hard. We finished checks, we had all kinds of chances. Their goalie kept them out."
Thomas Chabot gave Ottawa a 1-0 lead at 4:16 of the first period on a wrist shot from the left circle after Scott Sabourin's initial attempt was blocked in front.

Colin Blackwell scored 20 seconds later to tie it 1-1. Following a turnover by Senators forward Nicholas Paul, Blackwell went to the front and scored on a rebound of Mattias Ekholm's initial shot.
"I think it was a big goal after they had just scored," Blackwell said. "Maybe a couple weeks ago the building got flat and maybe the bench got flat, but it was just how we respond, how we've been doing that the last couple of weeks here coming together and not getting too high, not getting too low. It was a monkey-off-the-back type of thing."
Filip Chlapik gave the Senators a 2-1 lead at 18:34 of the first with a backhand on a rebound of a shot by Rudolfs Balcers.
Ellis tied it 2-2 at 5:17 of the second period with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle on the power play after a face-off win by Mikael Granlund.

Viktor Arvidsson gave Nashville a 3-2 lead at 9:43 of the second with a rebound on the power play.
"I think I've found my game a little bit more, and I feel like I'm a little faster out there and have started to get going," Arvidsson said. "I think me, [Matt Duchene] and [Calle Jarnkrok] are working good together. We're creating offense in the offensive zone, so that's good."
Senators forward Bobby Ryan had four shots, two hits and two blocks in 15:38 of ice time playing his first game since entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program on Nov. 20.
"Really nice to be back in competition mode," Ryan said. "I can't remember the nerves on a game day like this in a long, long time, and that's a good sign and a good feeling. A win would've been really nice, but there were some highs and lows in the game for me."

They said it

"Oh for sure, but in saying that, it's an opportunity for some other guys to prove that they can do it in the League. The one was off of a face-off that went in, so we'd like that back, but we're going to continue to work at it and get better." -- Senators coach D.J. Smith on the penalty kill being a work in progress following the loss of players at the 2020 NHL Trade Deadline
"It's been pretty quick. He was off for a long time, but he's also a guy that's in great shape. He really takes care of himself. And as we said, I think he knows the game very well, but he's a student of the game. He's been in all the meetings. He's watched practices. He was able to practice prior to coming back. He's a veteran player that's been around, played for different coaches, played different systems. I think the big thing for him even when he spoke with me prior to coming back was 'It'll probably take a few shifts or maybe a first period and I'll be back up to speed.' And he's been back up to speed pretty quick." -- Predators coach John Hynes on Ryan Ellis settling back into the lineup

Need to know

The Predators are tied with the Winnipeg Jets and Arizona Coyotes in the wild card race. ... Chabot played a game-high 32:36. … Ellis' goal was his first in three games since returning from an upper-body injury that caused him to miss 20 games. … Senators forward Anthony Duclair did not play because of an ankle injury.

What's next

Senators:Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday (7:30 p.m. ET; TSN5, RDS2, SNP, NHL.TV)
Predators:Host the Calgary Flames on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, FS-TN, SNW, NHL.TV)