OTTAWA -- James Neal used the same move, after taking a pass from the same teammate, to score twice Saturday night.

For the winner, the Nashville Predators' winger did it all by himself.

Neal potted the decisive goal in the shootout as the Predators dumped the Ottawa Senators 4-3 Saturday night at Canadian Tire Centre.

Neal's two regulation time goals, both on power plays, were off passes by defenseman Roman Josi. On each occasion Neil stepped out from the corner to fire a shot behind Senators goalie Craig Anderson.

"(Josi) made a good play to get it down to me and I think (Anderson) went for the pokecheck on the second one. I think he was anticipating I was going to do it again," Neal said of his third period goal at the 11:36 mark gave his team a 3-2 lead. "It worked. It was nice to see it go in."

The Senators sent the game into overtime when winger Mike Hoffman scored his second of the night with 3:32 left on a blast from just inside the blue line -- similar to his first. Hoffman couldn't keep pace with Neal in the shootout, however, as his attempt was turned aside by Predators goalie Carter Hutton.

Hoffman couldn't decide whether to call it a good loss or a tough loss after his team outshot the Predators, 41-25. Entering the night, Ottawa had been outshot by opponents 179-125 in its first five games.

"I think a little bit of both," said Hoffman. "The game is there for the taking for each team ... a couple of mistakes both ways that kind of ended up in goals, but at the end of the day, a shootout loss, it could have went either way.

"Give credit to Hutton there, he played pretty good. But it's a good thing we got one late to tie it up and at least come out of this game with something. One's a lot better than zero."

Winger Craig Smith had the other Nashville goal while winger Mark Stone also counted for Ottawa.

Filling in for No. 1 goalie Pekka Rinne, Hutton stopped all 13 shots he faced in the first period, when Neal gave the Predators a 1-0 lead. Hutton kicked away 11 of 13 in the second and 11 of 12 in the third, then blocked all three shots he faced in overtime when his team had just one chance on Anderson.

"At some points we were kind of back on our heels, but we stuck with it," Hutton said. "At this point, just getting the win and going home (from a three-game road trip) 2-1 instead of 1-2 is a big difference."

Neal is impressed with the way Hutton goes about his job.

"It's just his attitude," Neal said. "Every day when he comes to the rink, he's a fun guy to be around. He works hard every day and just waits for his chance. When you're playing behind a guy like (Rinne), it's tough, but he works hard. It's good to see him get a win."

While the Predators (4-1-0) are next in action Tuesday when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Senators (3-2-1) have some practice time to get ready for their next game. In the second of a four-game homestand they will host the New Jersey Devils Thursday, and after not meeting Cameron's standards yet this season, they were given the coach's approval for their play against Nashville.

In fact, Cameron said it was their best performance to date.

"We were just better all over the ice," he said. "We got out of our own end better, we got through the neutral zone better. (The shot total) could have been higher. I still think we passed up some real good opportunities to get the puck to the net, but it was a step in the right direction."

And yet they weren't fully rewarded.

"That's the way it goes over the course of 82 games," Cameron said. "You're going to play games where you think you deserved better. I thought we deserved better tonight, but give Nashville credit. The other games you don't play so well you win, so those things balance out. That's why for the most part we concentrate and focus on the overall how we played, and I thought we were good tonight."

Predators coach Peter Laviolette knows how Cameron feels. Laviolette still thinks the Predators best game so far was their lone loss.

"There were spots (tonight) where we were a little bit flat," said Laviolette. "There were spots where we came out for the third period and competed really hard, parts of the first period, too. We got a good road win."

NOTES: Senators D Marc Methot was a late scratch because of the flu. He was replaced by D Chris Wideman, who was making his NHL debut. Wideman won the Eddie Shore Award last season as the American Hockey League's most outstanding defensemen. ... Hutton made his first start of the season, allowing G Pekka Rinne to take a breather. Hutton, who had a 6-7-4 record last season, lost his last three games in 2014-15. ... Senators LW Clarke MacArthur missed his second game because of a head injury. Coach Dave Cameron said he does not know how long MacArthur will be out. "I'm not putting any time on it," Cameron said. ... Predators scratches were LW Viktor Arvidsson, D Anthony Bitetto and D Victor Bartley.