"I thought we were good from start to finish, but especially at the start," Head Coach Peter Laviolette said. "We needed to come out and make sure we were road ready, and I thought our guys did an excellent job at that."
First Goal Snipe:
Video: NSH@OTT: Aberg fires home first NHL goal
In his third NHL game - excluding two playoff contests in 2016 - forward Pontus Aberg found the back of the net for his first career goal in the League.
The 23-year-old had been a healthy scratch for the past two contests after being recalled on Nov. 8. On Thursday night against the Senators, Aberg entered the offensive zone all alone and fired a wrister from the face-off dot past Mike Condon for goal No. 1 of his career.
"I almost got an apple assist] on that play, so I remember it really well," goaltender Pekka Rinne quipped. "It's huge, and a huge goal for us too, the third goal, and it gave us a little bit of leeway in the game. But it's always a special thing when guys score their first NHL goals, and even now after the game, he was pretty pumped up. It's a big moment."
Mike Fisher Honored by Senators:
[Video: NSH@OTT: Senators celebrate Fisher's 1,000th game
Before spending his last 353 games with Nashville, Preds Captain Mike Fisher spent 675 contests with the Senators. A second-round pick in 1998 by the Sens, the forward said returning to Canada's capital is always one of the first dates he circles after the NHL schedule is released.
The Predators honored Fisher for logging 1,000 games in the NHL earlier this year in March, and the Sens elected to do the same in his first game back in Ottawa since earning the milestone.
In a pregame ceremony, former Sens Captain Daniel Alfredsson was joined by several current Ottawa players at center ice for a presentation of a painting depicting Fisher's 1,000 games in the NHL. Former Sens defenseman Chris Phillips also wished the grateful Fisher congrats via a video message on the Canadian Tire Centre video board.
"That was pretty special to have that," Fisher said. "Just the organization to do that and those guys to do that in front of the fans, it was something I'll never forget and that meant a lot."
Rinne Returns:
Video: NSH@OTT: Rinne stones Brassard's power-play chance
It was only one game, but the recently named NHL Third Star of the Week was missed during his two-day absence due to a lower-body injury. Pekka Rinne was back in the Predators net for stop No. 2 of the team's three-game road trip, and frankly, didn't miss a beat.
"The way he controls the game and makes big saves, he's so calm back there tonight," Fisher said of his goaltender. "He was unbelievable."
The Predators spent the week prior expressing how they feed of the high-quality play of their No. 1 netminder,and following a season sweep of the Senators, they had the chance to do so again.
With the 30-save win, Rinne improved to 4-0-0 in his last four starts with a .974 save percentage and 0.75 goals-against average, giving up one goal or less in each of them.
"You have to feel comfortable the way we're playing right now," Rinne said. "The week we had at home, it was a great week for us, and all around, we just have to feel good about ourselves and the way we're playing. It's all about confidence, especially when you play on the road; that's when you measure your confidence for sure.
Notes:
James Neal's six-game scoring streak has tied a Nashville franchise record. Filip Forsberg, Patric Hornqvist, Alexander Radulov and J-P Dumont also tallied in six straight with the Predators. It's also a career-high for Neal, who had already tied his previous record coming into Thursday night.
