Rare Houlder goal lifts Preds past Senators

Third-period tally proves to be difference

Nashville defenseman Bill Houlder hadn't scored a goal since Feb. 1, 2001, but he picked the right time to score his first one in 145 games.

His third-period goal gave the Predators a 3-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators, the best the Eastern Conference has to offer, Monday night in front of 11,384 fans at the Gaylord Entertainment Center.

The Predators will celebrate New Year's Day with a 2 p.m. faceoff against the Colorado Avalanche.

Houlder scored at the 7:42 mark when he skated in from the left circle, took a centering pass from Scott Walker, won a race with defenseman Chris Phillips and beat Ottawa goaltender Patrick Lalime one-on-one.

"It's not very often when I get to skate, and its just me and the goalie," Houlder said. "I really opened up my stride.

"I yelled at Scott one time that I was wide open, but I didn't know if he heard me. I went to chip that one upstairs. In case no one noticed, my stick broke and went between Lalime's legs.

"I was in shock. It has been a while. I hope its not another 100-whatever games till I do it again."

Houlder was one of three players on the Nashville roster without a goal. He had been out of the penalty box for six seconds when he scored. The others are defenseman Mark Eaton and left winger Vitali Yachmenev.

"When you need a goal, you never know who is going to step up," Walker said. "It was a big one for Bill and a big one for us.

"It seemed like we came out in the third period and we sat back a bit. And then they scored on us right away. We started to play a little bit better and then we killed the penalty and got that goal. As soon as we got that goal, the guys really picked up the effort and really stayed with it. We started pressuring them on their end. That is what we have to do."

Nashville coach Barry Trotz likes Houlder for the veteran leadership he shows on and off of the ice. But getting a goal is a nice touch, especially for a team with the lowest goal total in the NHL.

"Bill's an activator," Trotz said. "Bill activated, and that was good for him. It was great for him to get a winning goal in a really good game. The guys were cheering for him. They were real pumped up on the bench.

"He'll be playing that one over and over again on tape. By the end of the year, he will grab the puck and go coast-to-coast and score."

Ottawa was unbeaten in six games (5-0-1) and had won nine times in 11 games (9-1-1).

Trotz said he had been stressing to the team the need for more physical play.

"Part of the identity that you want is to be hard, especially in your own building," Trotz said. "We have a lot of gritty guys when we're healhy.

"We're not a drop your gloves type of team. But Scott Hartnell, Adam Hall, Denis Pederson and Walker are all gritty players who like to instigate. Those are the types of players we try to draft."

The Senators scored at 16:27 of the first period when defenseman Curtis Leschyshyn took a shot from the left circle that was tipped in by left winger Peter Schaefer, whose stick was waist high to beat Nashville goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

Nashville tied the game at 18:56 of the first period when center Denis Arkhipov put back in the rebound of a shot by defenseman Kimmom Timonen from the left circle that bounced off the right pad of Lalime.

Defenseman Andy Delmore scored his 10th goal of the season, all on the power play, to tie the game with 53 seconds left in the second period. Delmore's wrist shot went top shelf over the glove hand of Lalime.

Fifty-six seconds into the third period Ottawa right winger Daniel Alfredsson backhanded the rebound of a shot by defenseman Wade Redden past Vokoun.

Nashville defenseman Jason York, a former Ottawa player, likes what he is seeing from the Predators during the month of December.

"We've really picked our game up," York said. "Tomas has been playing great, making exceptional saves. We are in every game. We showed a lot of character when we came back and tied it. Earlier in the season we didn't win these types of games."

In the closing seconds of the game, a major brawl broke out with Ottawa players Mike Fisher (five minutes for fighting, Zdeno Chara (double minor for roughing) and Redden (double minor for roughing) and Nashville players Cale Hulse (five minutes for fighting, two for roughing), Walker (double minor for roughing) and Rem Murray (double minor roughing) were all asked to leave the ice.

"I don't think this is a wake-up call," said Ottawa coach Jacques Martin. "We weren't quite that good. Nashville played hard and won a lot of battles. And their goaltender made some big saves."

Predators notebook

Alfredsson has 11 points (two goals, nine assists) in his last six games. ... The Predators are 10-1-0-2 this season when scoring three or more goals. ... Walker has four assists in his last three games.

Avalanche and autographs

The first 4,000 children 12 and under who attend the Avalanche game will receive a coupon good for an autograph session with selected players approximately 30 minutes after the game. The session, presented by Pepsi, will feature Denis Arkhipov, Mark Eaton, Scott Hartnell, Cale Hulse, Andreas Johansson, Greg Johnson, Karlis Skrastins, Tomas Vokoun, Scott Walker, Jason York and Vitali Yachmenev.

Autographs will be limited to one per player per child.

Nashville vs. Colorado

Wednesday, 2 p .m.

GEC

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