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Nashville Predators 1, Washington Capitals 4: Frustrations mount

Jan 11, 2025; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Nashville Predators defenseman Brady Skjei (76) blocks the shot of Washington Capitals center Nic Dowd (26) during the second period at Bridgestone Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Nashville Predators returned home from a long journey today to host the Washington Capitals. It proved to be a rough beginning to their homestand.

Nashville got out to a strong start, maintaining good puck possession and zone time, but struggled to get shots through to Caps goalie Logan Thompson. Thompson handled the shots he saw, and the second half of the period slowed down significantly, with neither team making much of a push.

Nick Blankenburg opened the second period by taking a penalty, putting the Caps on the power play. The Preds were able to kill that one off, without giving the Caps much of a chance, but Roman Josi then got called for hooking. This time the Preds weren’t so lucky, as Tom Wilson got his own rebound to put Washington up 1-0.

The Preds responded strongly, but the Caps’ defense continued to be more than up to the task — until Josi drew a penalty in the attack and Filip Forsberg scored with a perfectly-placed shot on the power play to tie it 1-1.

While the Preds continued to attack to finish off the second period, the game began to stagnate again in the third, and Ethen Frank counterattacked for the Capitals to restore their lead at 8:30 of the third. The Preds got a break in the form of another power play, as Connor McMichael headed to the penalty box for tripping.

Unfortunately, the Preds weren’t able to convert, and Andrew Mangiapane made it 3-1 Caps moments later. Blankenburg and Ryan O’Reilly both rang iron in the next few minutes, but no luck, and Alex Ovechkin scored the empty-netter to get a little closer to Gretzky’s high-water mark. A last-second power play for the Preds did nothing to change the final score.

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