Saros shuts door to lift Predators past Senators for 4th consecutive victory
Nashville's Forsberg scores, adds assist in 3-0 road win
Just like good pitching will beat good hitting, a hot goalie is difficult to overcome. Juuso Saros is one such example.
Saros has stopped 102 of the 105 shots fired his way over his past two games, following a 64-save performance in a 5-3 win over Carolina on Jan. 5.
"I felt good out there, mostly. I had a lot of help today. We had a lot of blocks and our penalty kill was really good. I've got to give some credit to the guys," Saros said, referencing 22 blocked shots by the Predators.
"I'm just trying to see the puck and read the plays. Obviously, I've had some puck luck in these [recent] games, as well. I like to play. Obviously, it's been a lot of shots, but I don't feel tired."
WATCH l Forsberg leads Predators' offence vs. Senators:
Forsberg had the lone goal of the third period as he beat Cam Talbot in the Ottawa net on a 2-on-1 at 7:30 and the Predators (19-14-6) won for the fourth consecutive time.
"Even before we started winning, we were playing better hockey. And I thought there was a stretch where we didn't get the results, but we were playing better and building our game," said Forsberg.
"And now, obviously the results have been coming. But at the same time, we've got more than half the year left — we've got to keep building our game and keep finding wins."
Talbot made 33 saves for the Senators (18-19-3), who have now lost two straight.
"It sucks to lose the game, it sucks to get shut out, but I think at least the effort, the attitude, that's acceptable. We turned it over a little too much, they were pretty tight in their game plan and we veered just slightly from ours," Senators forward Austin Watson said.
"If we learned anything from when we got going good in December it's that we're good when we play the way the Ottawa Senators play. We don't play run-and-gun, we don't turn pucks over. We're north south, we dump and chase. It might not be sexy, but it works for us."
Blink of an eye
The Senators were playing a strong game and held an 11-5 advantage in shots through the opening 14 minutes of the first period. How quickly things changed.
Within a 32-second span the Senators went from being in charge to being in a hole as the Predators struck twice for a 2-0 lead.
Josi took advantage of a Senators turnover at their own blue line and put a chip shot over the shoulder of Talbot at 14:29. Lauzon redirected a Tanner Jeannot wraparound attempt into the Senators net at 15:01.
The Predators appeared to go up 3-0 later in the period but after video review the play was ruled offside.
The was no scoring in the second period although Brady Tkachuk appeared to get the Senators on the scoreboard, but after a challenge from the Predators, that play was also ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
Tkachuk appeared to get the Senators on the scoreboard, but after a challenge from the Predators, that play was also ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
