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Nashville Predators 6, Washington Capitals 5: Offense Comes Alive in High-Scoring Win

Posted on by Rachel K

The Predators hosted the Capitals in the last game of their current homestand. With plenty of Caps fans in the crowd, Bridgestone Arena was pretty full for a Thursday evening. Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Duchene both had some beautiful chances early in the first period, but they were unable to get the puck past Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby.

At the halfway mark of the first period, the Capitals were able to convert on a mistake by rookie Dante Fabbro in front of Pekka Rinne. Less than two minutes later, the Predators were able to counter with a beautiful snipe from Filip Forsberg off a smooth feed from none other than Matt Duchene.

The Predators were whistled for the night’s first penalty, but they were able to kill off the Washington power play. The Capitals were whistled for tripping with 5:45 left in the first period, but the Predators were unable to gain any momentum on the man advantage. Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for a slash right before the first period came to a close, but the Nashville power play was once again ineffective.

With some great end-to-end action, the Caps and Preds traded chances at the beginning of the second period. Colton Sissons was whistled for high-sticking, giving Washington their second power play of the evening. Superstar captain Alex Ovechkin put a beautiful one-timer past Pekka Rinne to put the Capitals up by a goal.

Ryan Johansen and Viktor Arvidsson combined at 7:37 of the second period for Nashville’s second goal of the game. The Predators returned to the power play on a Garnet Hathaway penalty, but a misplayed puck by Nick Bonino resulted in a 2-on-1 shorthanded goal from Tom Wilson.

With 2:49 remaining in the second period, Roman Josi was called for tripping. Alex Ovechkin added another goal from his “office” on the right circle.

With another chance on the power play at the beginning of the third period, the Predators were finally able to capitalize (pun intended) with John Carlson in the box. Ryan Johansen notched his second of the evening on a loose puck between Braden Holtby’s pads.

T.J. Oshie added a fifth goal for Washington with just under ten minutes remaining in the third period. With just around 5 minutes in regulation, a nice feed to Nick Bonino from Austin Watson tied the game at 5-5. Less than a minute later, Nashville added a sixth goal from Mattias Ekholm from the blue line.

With Braden Holtby on the bench, Washington attempted to tie the game with an extra attacker. Ryan Ellis was sent to the penalty box for slashing, but the Predators were able to keep the puck out of their net for a 6-5 victory.

Random Observations

  • Holy freaking Matt Duchene’s puck handling.
  • Wow, what airtime on that stick.
  • Braden Holtby and Pekka Rinne are good goalies, but you already knew that.
  • Filthy, filthy Filip Forsberg.
  • Assisted by…Matt Duchene.
  • I forgot Radko Gudas plays for Washington. I’m sure Washington fans want to forget this too.
  • More end-to-end action. This is a great hockey game.
  • Alex Ovechkin has an excellent one-timer. Perhaps don’t leave him open like that?
  • WOW! That’s Ovechkin’s FIRST career goal against Pekka Rinne.
  • Ryan Johansen nearly flubs on a slick pass but manages to put the puck behind Holtby. How about that?
  • Today’s submission for the All-Name Team: Garnet Hathaway.
  • Joey is doing things tonight.
  • Another goal less than a minute later! This time it’s THE NEW GUY!
  • Matt Irwin was just killed.
  • Bridgestone Arena is LOUD. Game tied.
  • Mattias Ekholm, hello!
  • The 7th Man is out in force tonight. /

Super Duper Stars of the Game

  1. Matt Duchene: First goal as a Predator. What other reason do you need?
  2. Mattias Ekholm: The Swedish defenseman scored the go-ahead goal for the boys in gold tonight.
  3. Ryan Johansen: Two goals for #92.

Tweets of the Game

Game Video

Talking Points