OTTAWA — Thomas Chabot scored 21 seconds into overtime and the Ottawa Senators recovered from blowing a three-goal lead to beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Monday.
Ottawa led 3-0 after the first period before allowing the Predators back into the game.
Maxime Lajoie, Brady Tkachuk and Ryan Dzingel scored in regulation for the Senators (15-16-4), who handed Nashville its first loss against an Eastern Conference opponent. Craig Anderson stopped 31 shots.
Roman Josi, with a pair of goals, and Craig Smith also scored for the Predators (22-11-1).
Pekka Rinne started the game, but was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots in the first period. That ended his seven-game unbeaten streak against the Senators.
Juuse Saros allowed one goal on 12 shots.
Trailing 3-1, the Predators made it a one-goal game just 46 seconds into the third period with Smith’s power-play goal and tied it at 6:56 as Josi’s shot deflected off Dzingel.
Josi’s first goal came on a power play five minutes into the second period when he picked up a rebound and beat Anderson to make it 3-1.
Things got heated later in the period when a fight broke out between Bobby Ryan and former teammate Kyle Turris. Ryan took exception to being slashed across the hands and the two exchanged blows.
The Senators scored three goals in the first 20 minutes.
Lajoie opened the scoring at the two-minute mark with a power-play goal as he skated into the circle and fired a shot that squeezed through Rinne’s pads. Tkachuk made it 2-0 with his tenth of the season less than three minutes later.
Ottawa took a 3-0 lead with 11.6 seconds remaining in the period as Mark Stone spotted Dzingel, who was able to beat Rinne high. The Senators had a goal waived off for a high stick minutes earlier.
This was the second and final meeting between the two teams this season.
Notes: The Senators remain without Dylan DeMelo and Matt Duchene, but Mark Borowiecki returned to the Senators lineup after missing the last 12 games. … Max McCormick was assigned to AHL Belleville after clearing waivers. … P.K. Subban missed his 16th straight game for the Predators.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press