Photo: @Capitals
The Washington Capitals defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 4-1 on Saturday night to extend their point streak to seven (4-0-3). Washington, who improved to 28-10-5 (.709) this season, has points in 10 of their last 12 (7-2-3) since losing back-to-back games to the Dallas Stars and Chicago Blackhawks on their last Western Conference road trip. Goaltender Logan Thompson made 31 saves in the win.
Washington’s Lines
Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Connor McMichael
Aliaksei Protas — Pierre-Luc Dubois — Tom Wilson
Taylor Raddysh – Lars Eller — Ethen Frank
Brandon Duhaime — Nic Dowd — Andrew Mangiapane
Rasmus Sandin — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Matt Roy
Jakob Chychrun — Trevor Van Riemsdyk
Thompson
Hunter Shepard
- Scratched
- LW Jakub Vrana
- D Dylan McIlrath
- D Alexander Alexeyev
- Injured
- LW Sonny Milano (upper-body)
- C Nicklas Backstrom (hip)
- RW T.J. Oshie (back)
- G Charlie Lindgren (lower-body)
Shepard was recalled from the AHL’s Hershey Bears after Washington placed Lindgren, who left Friday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens after playing 22:29, on injured reserve, meaning Lindgren will be eligible to return against the Pittsburgh Penguins next Saturday.
Nashville’s Lines
Filip Forsberg – Steven Stamkos – Jonathan Marchessault
Vinnie Hinostroza – Ryan O’Reilly – Gustav Nyquist
Tommy Novak — Fyodyr Svechkov – Zach L’Heureux
Mark Jankowski – Michael McCarron – Colton Sissons
Roman Josi — Justin Barron
Brady Skjei – Nick Blackenburg
Spencer Stastney – Luke Schenn
Juuse Saros
Justus Annunen
- Scratched
- Injured
- LW Cole Smith (lower-body)
- D Jeremy Lauzon (lower-body)
- D Adam Willsby (lower-body)
- RW Luke Evangelista (lower-body)
First Period
Scoring
Stats
- 8-5 Nashville in shots
- 8-2 Nashville in hits
- 11-7 Washington in blocked shots
- 8-5 Washington in giveaways
- 1-0 Washington in takeaways
Graphs: Natural StatTrick
Second Period
Scoring
- 9:03, 1-0 Washington (PPG): Wilson wristed one through the five-hole of Saros in front after Skjei poked the puck away from him, Strome set him up below the goal line, and Ovechkin started the play by giving it to Strome from the left dot. Wilson’s nine power play goals rank tied for third in the NHL, trailing only Tampa Bay Lightning center Brayden Point (12) and Winnipeg Jets right-wing Gabriel Vilardi (10). Strome has factored in on 19 of Washington’s 30 power play goals this season (.633).
#ALLCAPS 1-0. tom wilson on the powerplay pic.twitter.com/KZ5AE2mJw5
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) January 12, 2025
- 16:14, 1-1 (PPG): Forsberg retrieved a pass at the right blue line, skated his way to the dot, and ripped a shot over the glove of Thompson.
A hell of a shot by Filip Forsberg. Not sure how he found room on the near side of Logan Thompson.
Predators, Capitals tied 1-1. pic.twitter.com/C48T49iBFf
— Alex Daugherty (@AlexDaugherty1) January 12, 2025
Stats
- 22-8 Nashville in shots
- including 14-3 in the third
- Washington scored on one of their power plays
- Nashville struck on their only opportunity
- 13-6 Nashville in hits
- 19-11 Washington in blocked shots
- 11-9 Washington in giveaways
Third Period
Scoring
- 8:30, 2-1 Washington: After catching a stretch pass from the defensive zone by Roy at the blueline, Frank skated in and wristed a shot through the wickets of Saros for his first career NHL goal. With the secondary helper, Fehervary reached the 10-assist mark for the third consecutive season. Frank is the 11th player in franchise history to record a point in each of his first two career NHL games.
#ALLCAPS 2-1. ETHEN FRANK FIRST NHL GOAL. LETS GOOO pic.twitter.com/FGk2NHFldd
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) January 12, 2025
- 14:54, 3-1: Mangiapane caught the puck with his right skate and backhanded a shot through the five-hole of Saros after Duhaime held onto the puck in a board battle and passed it to him in the low slot. Mangiapane became the eighth Capital to score at least 10 goals this season. The Capitals are one of two teams in the NHL to have eight players with 10 or more goals (also New Jersey Devils).
#ALLCAPS 3-1. MANGIAPANE. who needs shots when we’re only playing the predators?? pic.twitter.com/bO4yx4WvQi
— x – Capitals Replays 🍁 (@capsreplays) January 12, 2025
- 19:02, 4-1 (ENG): After blocking Josi’s point shot, Ovechkin chased the puck and skated it in for his 20th goal this season and 873rd of his NHL career. Ovechkin joined Gordie Howe (22) as the second player in NHL history to score 20 or more goals in 20 consecutive seasons.
22 TO GO! 🚨
Alex Ovechkin has his 20th goal of the season and is 22 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time goals record! pic.twitter.com/FFKtQXF4Ih
— NHL (@NHL) January 12, 2025
Stats
- 33-16 Nashville in shots
- including 13-8 in the third
- Nashville finished with one power play goal on three opportunities
- 16-12 Nashville in hits
- 27-15 Washington in blocked shots
- 13-12 Washington in giveaways
Washington vaulted seven points ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes (with both teams having played 43 games) and five clear of New Jersey (two games in hand) for the Metropolitan Division lead.
Next game: Tuesday vs. Anaheim Ducks (7 PM ET, Monumental Sports Network in-market, ESPN+ out-of-market).
By Harrison Brown
