Rinne stops 30 shots, Predators beat Senators 5-1

OTTAWA, Ontario – From start to finish, the Nashville Predators were the better team and simply outworked the Ottawa Senators.

Ryan Ellis scored the tiebreaking goal late in the first period, Pekka Rinne stopped 30 shots and the Predators beat the Senators 5-1 Thursday night.

Mike Ribeiro had a goal and assist, and Colton Sissons, Pontus Aberg and James Neal also scored to help the Predators sweep the two-game series series against the Senators.

"We played great," Predators captain Mike Fisher said. "We've struggled on the road and this was a really good solid game for us. We needed that one. We did a lot of good things."

Before the game, Fisher was honored by the Senators for reaching the 1,000th game milestone last season. Fisher played 675 games with Ottawa before being traded to Nashville.

"For the organization to do something like that was pretty special," Fisher said. "There's so many great memories here, it's like home."

Derrick Brassard scored for Ottawa, and Mike Condon finished with 35 saves in his third start. The Senators haven't scored more than two goals in their last 11 games.

"This is the second time we've been terrible against Nashville," Senators coach Guy Boucher said. "I don't know if we're allergic to them or something."

Ellis beat Condon on the far side with about 4 1/2 minutes left in the opening period to put the Predators up 2-1.

"Right off the bat our turnovers killed us in the first period," Boucher said. "We're letting the opponent wear us down in the first period and then you play catch up hockey because of that.

"I know guys are trying to get a bit more offense, but that's not the right way, that's definitely not the right way."

Nashville held the edge in play in the second and was rewarded as Aberg scored his first NHL goal, beating Condon through the legs with under three minutes remaining.

The Senators were unable to create any real chances in the third despite two power plays.

The Predators put the game out of reach as Neal, with his seventh goal in six games, and Ribeiro, taking a long pass from P.K. Subban, made it 5-1 sending the 15,480 fans at Canadian Tire Centre to the exits.

Ottawa got off to a poor start, giving up the first goal for the sixth straight game.

"It's always tough to play from behind," Senators captain Erik Karlsson said. "We've been doing it a lot lately. ... We've got to come back and work on the things that we need to work on and realize we need a lot more, not a little bit more for Saturday's game."

The Predators opened the scoring at 2:14 as Sissons tipped Austin Watson's shot after some poor defensive coverage from Karlsson and Marc Methot.

Brassard scored a power-play goal to tie the game at 8:36 of the first. It was just Brassard's second goal of the season and marked the Senators' first power-play goal in six games.

"It's something I've been working on every day," Brassard said of his shot. "I was working on it this morning. Now it's behind me and I have to focus on the next game and try and play well."

Ottawa's Bobby Ryan left the game with an upper body injury and did not return for the second period.

NOTES: Prior to the game, the Senators honored Predators captain Mike Fisher for reaching the 1,000th game milestone last season. Fisher played 675 games with the Senators. ... Ottawa LW Mike Hoffman is out day-to-day and was replaced by Max McCormick. ... A late change had Andrew Hammond backing Condon up in place of Craig Anderson. ... D Fredrik Claesson was a healthy scratch for Ottawa. ... Nashville C Cody Bass and D Matt Carle were healthy scratches.

UP NEXT

Predators: At St. Louis on Saturday night.

Senators: Host Florida on Saturday night.