Senators rally past Predators 3-2 in shootout as Pinto scores winner

The Ottawa Senators snapped into the night’s biggest moment late, rallying to beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday. Shane Pinto delivered the deciding attempt, giving Ottawa the extra point after the teams reached a deadlock through regulation and overtime.

Ottawa’s comeback was powered by scoring at opposite ends of the final frame. Tim Stützle opened the scoring for the Senators, and Drake Batherson answered when the game needed it most. Batherson tied the contest with 2:23 left in the third period, setting up the postgame format no team wants to rely on but both sides had earned.

Nashville, meanwhile, forced the Senators into a late-game push. With regulation drawing toward its conclusion, the Predators managed to keep the game within reach until the final seconds, and both teams carried that tension through overtime and into the shootout.

In the skills competition that followed, Pinto came through under pressure to convert the shootout winner. That finish mattered not just for the result, but for the way the Senators earned it, responding to the adversity of a close game and finishing the extra opportunities that come only after 60 minutes have failed to separate the teams.

For Ottawa, the win was part of an early-season process that often turns on how teams respond after giving up chances late. Beating Nashville also reinforces that the Senators can execute under game-ending stress, where trackable details shift from sustained structure to decision-making and timing. The shootout finish leaves more questions than a standard win, but it also provides a clear takeaway, the Senators can close.

For Nashville, the loss is a reminder that protecting a lead late is difficult, especially when opponents have credible scoring threats and the ability to draw the equalizer quickly. Batherson’s late goal was the swing moment that forced Nashville to play for one more opportunity, and the inability to regain the advantage through overtime set up the outcome determined by shootout conversion.

What to watch next is whether Ottawa can turn this type of late-game resilience into consistency over its next stretches, particularly around third-period timing. Nashville will likely focus on late-game details as well, because a single tying goal with minutes remaining is often the difference between points collected and points surrendered.