Batherson’s late deflection caps Ottawa’s rally in 3-2 shootout win over Nashville

Nashville’s early burst put Ottawa on the chase

The Predators did the damage quickly. Ross Colton opened the scoring at 8:50 of the first period on a snap shot, with Vitali Pinchuk picking up the lone assist, and Jonathan Marchessault doubled the lead at 13:10 when he beat Ottawa with a wrist shot off passes from Steven Stamkos and Roman Josi.

That gave Nashville exactly the sort of start a road team wants, especially on a night when chances stayed limited for long stretches. The Predators finished with only 15 shots, but they made their first period count and backed it with a rugged defensive stat line: 34 hits and 25 blocked shots.

Ottawa, though, did not let the game run away from it. The Senators were not explosive early, but they stayed close enough to recover, helped by a narrow edge in faceoffs over the full night, 32 wins to 29, and by keeping the shot gap manageable at 19-15 overall.

Stützle changed the tone, and Batherson delivered the equalizer

The comeback started in the second period through Ottawa’s best offensive driver of the night. Tim Stützle cut the deficit to 2-1 at 9:29, finishing a play set up by Dylan Cozens and Thomas Chabot. It was the Senators’ first breakthrough after Nashville’s fast opening and it gave the rest of the game a different shape.

From there, Ottawa spent the evening trying to turn pressure into one more finish. Neither side separated itself on special teams; both clubs went 1-for-6 on the power play and both took six penalties for 12 minutes. That left the game looking less like a special-teams showcase and more like a test of which side could find one clean late touch.

Ottawa found it just before time ran out. With 1:23 left in regulation, Batherson redirected home the tying goal at 18:37 of the third period, with Shane Pinto and Stützle recording the assists. It was Ottawa’s second goal from a different source line than its first, and it forced overtime after Nashville had protected its lead for more than two periods.

The Senators then completed the rally in the shootout. The supplied summary credits Ottawa with the deciding fifth-period marker and Nashville with none, enough to turn a game that looked firmly in the Predators’ control after 13 minutes into a full comeback win for the home side.

Our take: Ottawa’s timing mattered more than volume

This was not a game Ottawa won by overwhelming Nashville. Nineteen shots is a modest total, and the Senators were still down 2-0 after the opening period. What changed the result was timing. Stützle gave Ottawa a path back in the second, and Batherson finished the hardest part of the job by rescuing the game in the final 83 seconds of regulation.

There is also a useful warning in the numbers for Nashville. The Predators hit more, blocked far more shots and had the lead from 8:50 of the first onward, yet they did not score again after Marchessault’s goal at 13:10. When a team holds that kind of early advantage and still leaves the door open into the final minutes, one bounce or one touch can undo the entire night. That is exactly what happened here.

For Ottawa, the encouraging part is that the comeback came from core contributors. Stützle finished with a goal and an assist, Batherson delivered the late equalizer, and Cozens, Chabot and Pinto all contributed to the two regulation goals. The concern is simpler: a team that needed a last-minute deflection to force overtime can still point to its opening stretch and its discipline as areas to clean up.

In the end, the Senators earned this one the hard way. They absorbed a rough first period, answered through their top players and kept enough composure to reach the tiebreaker. Nashville had the stronger opening punch. Ottawa had the better finish, and on this night that decided everything.

Scoring moments

1. 1st · 8:50

   Ross Colton Goal (1) Snap Shot, assists: Vitali Pinchuk (1)

2. 1st · 13:10

   Jonathan Marchessault Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Steven Stamkos (4), Roman Josi (5)

3. 2nd · 9:29

   Tim Stützle Goal (4) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Cozens (1), Thomas Chabot (2)

4. 3rd · 18:37

   Drake Batherson Goal (3) Deflected, assists: Shane Pinto (4), Tim Stützle (4)