recap preds

A night after he helped the Caps pick up a point with a third period assist in his NHL debut, Ethen Frank did himself – and his team – even better on his second NHL game on Saturday night at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena. In a 1-1 game against the Predators, Frank scored the go-ahead goal for Washington midway through the final frame, and it stood up as his first game-winning goal in the NHL in a 4-1 Caps victory.

From Washington territory, Matt Roy delivered a sharp and on target stretch feed to Frank, sending him into Nashville ice with a step on Preds defenseman Brady Skjei. From the bottom of the right circle, Frank fired a shot past Nashville netminder Juuse Saros to give the Capitals a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.

“It’s pretty similar to last night,” says Frank of his first NHL goal. “It didn’t really feel real. I was just telling you guys I didn’t think it was in until I went behind the net and saw that it was in. And the only thing I could so was just start screaming, so it was pretty cool.”

Two games, two points, both of them critical to the team’s success.

“Game-winning goal, a huge play when we needed something there,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “In the third period, we knew we had a good chance at them. I had a feeling – or you could feel – that the third period was going to be our best period, but we still needed someone to make a play, and he stepped up big time in that moment – great speed down the wing, and great finish, too.”

In the waning minutes of the contest, Caps captain Alex Ovechkin blocked a shot and took the puck the distance for an empty-net goal, registering his 20th consecutive 20-goal season, and notching career goal No. 873. He is now 22 goals shy of surpassing Wayne Gretzky (894) for the top spot on the League’s all-time goal ledger. Ovechkin joins the late, great Gordie Howe as only the second player in League history to deliver 20 straight seasons of 20 or more goals.

Logan Thompson was again stellar between the pipes for Washington, stopping 32 of 33 shots, including all 28 he faced at even strength.

“He made a bunch of huge saves in tight,” says Carbery of his goaltender. “Guys taking pucks to the net, rebounds in tight. He did the same thing [Friday] night; I went back through the film and he made an unbelievable save on a rebound that’s right there. I can’t say enough positive things about him stepping up when the guys needed every one of those saves tonight.”

The first period was a low event frame; the first six minutes were played without a whistle and the two teams combined for just 13 shots on net, no penalties and no goals. Playing on consecutive nights for the sixth time in his NHL career, Thompson made a strong stop on a Michael McCarron slot shot early in the opening stanza.

The Caps went on the power play in the first minute of the second period, but they weren’t able to muster as much as a shot on net. With their second power play opportunity, the Caps got one shot, and they made it count.

Washington had a fair amount of zone time on each of those extra-man opportunities in the middle period, and they worked the perimeter of the Preds’ zone on the second opportunity, waiting patiently for the payoff shot.

From the left point, Alex Ovechkin fired it hard around the back of the cage. Dylan Strome was stationed there, and he stopped it and fed Tom Wilson in front. Wilson partially fanned on his first try, but he whipped the second one past Saros for a 1-0 Washington lead at 9:03.

“I think that gave us a little bit of momentum at a much-needed time,” says Wilson. “They came out hard in their building, and teams are ready for us now, so we’ve got to make sure that we're managing that on the road.

“Our power play, we got a bunch of shooters right now and guys that can find the back of the net from any spot. We're just trying to get pucks to the net, and it’s maybe a bit of a lucky one there. But if you work for the pucks and get retrievals and get second chances, that's the name of the game.”

Less than a minute later, Thompson preserved that narrow lead with an excellent save on Nashville’s Jonathan Marchessault, denying the winger on a 2-on-1 rush.

With less than five minutes remaining in the middle period, the Predators went on the power play for the first time in the game, and like the Caps, they needed just one shot. From the bottom of the right circle, Filip Forsberg put a shot past Thompson on the far side, squaring the score at 1-1 at 16:14 of the first.

The Capitals were limited to a meager three shots on net in the second period, marking the 11th straight frame in which they were limited to a single digit total. But despite being outshot 20-8 to that point of the contest, they were only a shot away from being back in the lead.

Frank scored at 8:30 of the third to restore Washington’s lead, and Andrew Mangiapane delivered a big insurance goal at 14:54, burying a backhander from the slot to give Thompson a cushion he would not need.

Thompson improves to 18-2-3 on the season, to 5-1-0 against Nashville, and to 2-2-2 lifetime when playing on zero days of rest. All this, despite his personal nemesis – Forsberg – beating him for the seventh time in six games (on 31 total shots).

“I like playing Nashville,” says Thompson. “Forsberg has my number; I think he always has, and I like playing in this rink. I really love their goal song, so that's unfortunate, but it's a fun team to play against.

“I’ve got [Marchessault] on the other side, a guy played with for a couple years [in Vegas]. It’s always fun coming to Nashville and playing these games.”