Capitals Down Predators, 3-2; Alex Ovechkin, Connor McMichael And Aliaksei Protas Score Again


Photo: @NHL_PR

The Washington Capitals dropped the Nashville Predators, 3-2, Wednesday night at Capital One Arena in Washington. The victory improves the Capitals record to 9-3-0 on the season.

The Predators opened the scoring less than four minutes into the contest with a deflected goal from Juuso Parssinen, but the Capitals answered a little over a minute later with Connor McMichael’s eighth goal of the season. The initial stanza remained 1-1 into the first intermission.

The two teams traded tallies 31 seconds apart with goals from Aliaksei Protas and Steven Stamkos late in the middle frame for a 2-2 tie at the second intermission.

The Capitals regained the lead midway through the final frame on Alex Ovechkin’s eighth goal of the season and would hold on for the 3-2 win.

LINEUP

Logan Thompson (5-0-0, 2.97 GAA, .894 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Jusse Saros (3-6-1, 2.83 GAA, .902 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Predators. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Aliaksei Protas – Dylan Strome – Alex Ovechkin
Connor McMichael – Pierre-Luc Dubois – Tom Wilson
Sonny Milano – Hendrix Lapierre – Andrew Mangiapane
Brandon Duhaime – Nic Dowd – Taylor Raddysh

Martin Fehervary – John Carslon
Rasmus Sandin – Matt Roy
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Logan Thompson
Charlie Lindgren

Scratches: Dylan McIlrath, Jakub Vrana, Mike Sgarbossa and Jakob Chychrun (injury).

1ST PERIOD

The Predators opened the scoring at 16:48 with a deflected goal from Juuso Parssinen (1). L. Evangelista (5) and P. Tomasino (1) were credited with the helpers.

The Capitals answered quickly on Connor McMichael’s eighth goal of the season at 4:26 of the first frame. Matt Roy (1) and Pierre-Luc Dubois (6) had the assists.

After the quick scoring flurry the remainder of the period went without a tally. The Capitals led in five-on-five shot attempts, 23-14 and expected goals for, 1.77 to .44.

2ND PERIOD

The Capitals took their first lead of the night on Aliaksei Protas’ fourth goal of the season at 15:03 of the middle frame. Alex Ovechkin (8) and Dylan Strome (14) had the assists.

The Predators got it right back. Steven Stamkos (3) beat Thompson to tie the score 2-2 at 15:34. A. Carrier (4) and R. O’Reilly (7) had the helpers.

The second period expired with the game tied 2-2. Five-on-five shot attempts were tied, 26-26.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals regained the lead midway through the final frame on Alex Ovechkin’s eighth goal of the season at 10:25. Dylan Strome (15) notched the primary tally. It was his 200th career assist.

That would be it as the Capitals held on for the 3-2 win.

SHAVINGS (Via Capitals PR)

  • Connor McMichael scored his team-leading eighth goal of the season to tie the game 1-1. McMichael has scored seven goals in his last seven games dating back to Oct. 23.
  • Pierre-Luc Dubois recorded his sixth assist of the season on McMichael’s game-tying goal. Dubois has assisted on four of McMichael’s eight goals this season.
  • Aliaksei Protas scored his fifth goal of the season. Protas, who scored six goals in 78 games played last season, has five goals through 12 games this season. Protas has recorded eight points (4g, 4a) in his last five games played.
  • Alex Ovechkin recorded the primary assist on Washington’s second goal, extending his point streak to five games (5g-5a–10p).
  • Dylan Strome was credited with the secondary assist on Protas’ goal, extending his assist streak to five games (10/29/24-11/6/24: 8a). Strome’s five-game assist streak is tied for the longest of his career (2/17/24-2/26/24: 7a). Strome’s 14 assists are tied for the fourth most in the NHL, trailing only Nathan MacKinnon (19), Cale Makar (18) and Mark Stone (15).
  • Alex Ovechkin scored his eighth goal of the season and extends his goal streak to five games (6g). Ovechkin is the third player in NHL history to record a five-game goal streak at age 39 or older, joining Brett Hull (7 GP in 2003) and Johnny Bucyk (6 GP in 1974)
  • Dylan Strome tallied his 200th career NHL assist on Ovechkin’s go-ahead goal. With two assists tonight, Strome has now recorded four multi-assist performances in his last five games dating back to Oct. 29.
  • Martin Fehervary was credited with the secondary assist on Ovechkin’s goal. Twenty-three of Fehervary’s 35 career assists have come at Capital One Arena.

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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