The Nashville Predators played from behind most of the way tonight, and due to six penalties taken over the final two periods, couldn't take control of tonight's game, falling to the Ottawa Senators 4-3. The Sens halted a 7-game losing streak thanks to two scores by defenseman Chris Phillips (playing in his 1000th NHL game), his first two goals of the season. Nashville got a goal by Martin Erat with 8.6 seconds left to pull within one, but that wasn't enough this time.

Video highlights and post-game reaction from this one follow after the jump:

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Sure, the 2013 Winter Classic is a long ways off, but that doesn't mean the chirping back and forth between Detroit and Toronto can't get started now. Our afternoon hockey notes get all those juices flowing, before touching on all sorts of developments around the league, including a former league MVP battling his way through injury to stay in the lineup tonight, and another member of the Predators organization who is playing against familiar foes tonight...

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Chalk up another big assist to Jordin Tootoo today.

His charitable foundation, the Team Tootoo Fund, has made a grant to The Jason Foundation, "an educational organization dedicated to the awareness and prevention of youth suicide." Given Tootoo's personal history (published last year in a book for kids), and the suicide of his older brother Terence, it's a fitting way for Tootoo to turn a personal tragedy into something which might be able to help others.

The press release from the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee follows...

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The talk of the hockey world this morning is the worst-kept secret of the last few weeks, that the 2013 NHL Winter Classic will be held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, featuring the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. You can find the whole scoop over at NHL.com, but in the meantime, there's lots of other things to talk about this morning.

After the jump, we have one slightly disgruntled Predator, another who is finally delivering on the potential we've seen for so long, and one more who's just happy to be here...

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The Nashville Predators pay a visit tonight to the Ottawa Senators (6:30 p.m. Central on FS-TN), in what serves as a bit of a reunion night for a pair of Preds. Can they maintain the pace being set by the top teams in the West against a faltering Eastern opponent?

Follow after the jump for your preview!

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Over the summer, when Dirk ranked potential scoring forwards the Predators could seek in trade, Ales Hemsky's name came to the top. In 47 games last season, Hemsky's 5-on-5 scoring rate was superstar quality, higher than Anze Kopitar's, higher than Alex Semin's, higher than that of each of Anaheim's big three.

Times are different, though, you say. Nashville has the 12th ranked offense in the NHL and Hemsky is struggling in Edmonton.

But how are the Predators scoring? 5-on-5, the shutdown line--i.e. the line facing the toughest competition--centered by Mike Fisher, leads the way. On the man advantage, a trio of Americans--David Legwand, Colin Wilson, and Craig Smith--have combined to make the Predators' power play the third-best in hockey.

What happens in the playoffs, however, when Kostitsyn/Fisher/Erat consistently face tougher top lines and fewer penalties make special teams a moot point? The Predators risk a Vancouver-series situation, in which it takes incredible individual offensive effort to break the game open. Someone who can go coast to coast like butter toast. Someone like Ales Hemsky.

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