Ottawa Senators @ Nashville Predators - February 3, 2025

As the Ottawa Senators prepare to face off against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena, we are set for a matchup that promises to showcase contrasting trajectories and team dynamics. The Senators come in riding a wave of momentum with three consecutive wins, highlighted by a dominant 6-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild. In stark contrast, the Predators find themselves struggling, having suffered a disappointing 3-0 defeat to the Pittsburgh Penguins in their last outing.

From a coaching perspective, when you look at both teams’ recent performances and statistical data, it’s evident that Ottawa has found its stride offensively. They average approximately 2.8 goals per game with a commendable power play percentage hovering around 23%. Their offensive zone time reflects an ability to create scoring opportunities consistently. Meanwhile, Nashville’s stats reveal they average about 2.7 goals per game but have struggled recently with only one win out of their last five games.

Defensively, Ottawa boasts impressive save percentages at 90%, which suggests they’re doing well to limit opponents’ quality chances on net. Conversely, Nashville is not far behind with an 89% save rate but their penalty kill rate of just over 82% indicates vulnerability during critical moments—something Ottawa can exploit given their effective power play unit.

With oddsmakers placing Nashville as slight favorites at -123 despite their struggles this season (14 wins against 22 losses), it’s clear they are expecting home-ice advantage to play a significant role in this contest. However, looking deeper into both teams’ current forms and statistics leads me to predict otherwise: I believe Ottawa will emerge victorious tonight.

Nashville’s offensive metrics show a low shooting percentage of around 9%, which raises concerns about their ability to convert chances into goals effectively. Additionally, facing off against an energized Senators team could exacerbate these issues further; they need more than just home ice and historical records on their side if they want to turn things around tonight.

In terms of covering the spread—which is vital for bettors—the underdog nature of Ottawa presents great value here given that if they win outright (as I predict), they will certainly cover as well. It’s worth noting that if you glance back through history and matchups between these two squads lately, underdogs have been known to rise up when expectations are lower.

Finally, regarding the total goals for this game—it opened at 6.5—but considering how each team’s recent form has played out (especially defensively) I foresee this one finishing below that mark as both teams prioritize tight defensive plays while looking for opportunistic offense rather than high-scoring shootouts.

In conclusion: I’m leaning towards an Ottawa victory tonight—a cover of the spread alongside it—and expect fewer total goals scored than predicted by bookmakers due to strong goalkeeping efforts from both sides taking center stage in this matchup.