The Nashville Predators returned residence from an extended journey in the present day to host the Washington Capitals. It proved to be a tough starting to their homestand.
Nashville acquired out to a robust begin, sustaining good puck possession and zone time, however struggled to get photographs by means of to Caps goalie Logan Thompson. Thompson dealt with the photographs he noticed, and the second half of the interval slowed down considerably, with neither workforce making a lot of a push.
Nick Blankenburg opened the second interval by taking a penalty, placing the Caps on the ability play. The Preds had been capable of kill that one off, with out giving the Caps a lot of an opportunity, however Roman Josi then acquired referred to as for hooking. This time the Preds weren’t so fortunate, as Tom Wilson acquired his personal rebound to place Washington up 1-0.
The Preds responded strongly, however the Caps’ protection continued to be greater than as much as the duty — till Josi drew a penalty within the assault and Filip Forsberg scored with a perfectly-placed shot on the ability play to tie it 1-1.
Whereas the Preds continued to assault to complete off the second interval, the sport started to stagnate once more within the third, and Ethen Frank counterattacked for the Capitals to revive their lead at 8:30 of the third. The Preds acquired a break within the type of one other energy play, as Connor McMichael headed to the penalty field for tripping.
Sadly, the Preds weren’t capable of convert, and Andrew Mangiapane made it 3-1 Caps moments later. Blankenburg and Ryan O’Reilly each rang iron within the subsequent couple of minutes, however no luck, and Alex Ovechkin scored the empty-netter to get a bit nearer to Gretzky’s high-water mark. A final-second energy play for the Preds did nothing to alter the ultimate rating.
