Drake Batherson’s goal and assist lifts Senators over Predators

p> 

Drake Batherson scored a goal and assisted on another to lead the Ottawa Senators to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Saturday, Dec. 10.

Claude Giroux and Alex DeBrincat also scored, Shane Pinto had a pair of assists and Cam Talbot made 27 saves for the Senators, who snapped a two-game losing streak.

Yakov Trenin and Nino Niederreiter scored and Juuse Saros made 30 saves for Nashville, losers of two straight.

Batherson and Niederreiter scored goals a minute apart in the third. Batherson’s came with the teams skating 4-on-4 just as a DeBrincat penalty expired, giving Batherson credit for a power-play goal.

Niederreiter’s goal made it 3-2 with 9:45 remaining, but the Predators could not find the equalizer.

Trenin scored the game’s first goal at 16:57 of the second period after Mark Jankowski jarred the puck loose just inside the Ottawa zone and found a trailing Trenin, who beat Talbot with a wrist shot on the far side.

Giroux sent the teams to the second intermission tied at 1 with a power-play goal with 7.5 seconds remaining. Nashville was shorthanded due to a too many men on the ice penalty, then Predators defenceman Jeremy Lauzon was jammed into the boards by Ottawa’s Mark Kastelic. Lauzon skated directly to the Nashville bench, but a replacement was unable to get back into the play before Giroux swatted the puck home after a scramble in front.

DeBrincat was credited with giving Ottawa the lead at 3:55 of the third when he attempted to pass the puck to Batherson, but it deflected off of the stick of Predators defenceman Dante Fabbro and between Saros’ pads.