Greetings From Nashville – The Caps are in Nashville tonight where they will conclude the 2025-26 Mentors’ Trip with a Sunday night tilt against the Predators, the first of the two meetings between the two teams this season. Coming off a 5-1 win in Friday’s trip opener in Chicago, the Caps are placing an emphasis on putting together consecutive victories for the first time in over a month, since Dec. 3 when they won in San Jose to extend their winning streak to a season-high six games at the time.
“Consistency is paramount for our group right now,” says Caps coach Spencer Carbery. “Being able to back some of these games up where we perform at a high level, and now the challenge is being able to repeat that. So, that’s the objective tonight.”
Nashville is finishing up a set of back-to-back games and is also playing its third home game in a span of four nights tonight; the Preds dropped a 3-0 decision to the Blackhawks here last night.
Following a rugged start to the season, Nashville is 14-8-0 in its last 22 games and it has pulled to within four points of the second wild card berth in the Western Conference standings.
“From what we’ve seen, [they’re] playing better as of late, with the start that they had,” says Carbery of the Predators. “So, they’re right there in the playoff mix, in their conference.
“I find from watching the film, they do a really good job – them offensively – of getting to the inside, and I’ve heard their coach talking about it a few times. When you go through their goals, their chances, they’re doing a really good job of getting people to the inside – second, third, and fourth opportunities. Ryan O’Reilly, who I know well, he’s right at the top of that, of being someone that can get to those tight areas and find ways to score in there. So, they do a good job of getting pucks to the interior, to the crease, and they get a lot of people there.”
Between Fathers And Sons – Connor McMichael scored the game-winning goal for Washington on Friday in Chicago, scoring on a breakaway just seven seconds after the Caps won a draw in their own end of the ice. McMichael’s dad Murray had ducked out of the United Center suite where he was watching the game with the other mentors, and as he was returning, he saw his son darting up the ice, so he ducked into a nearby suite full of Chicago fans to watch Connor light the lamp.
The local fans cheered McMichael’s excitement over his son’s goal, and then kindly asked him to leave, a story he related to the Monumental crew at Saturday afternoon’s practice just outside Music City.
“It’s been amazing,” told us of the trip, hours prior to the Chicago game. “With the dads part of the Washington trip here, it’s amazing to meet them, to talk to them, to understand them. With the team itself and the fathers themselves on this trip, it’s like a big family. It’s amazing how well everybody gets along and how much fun we’re having with each other. It’s been really good.”
And as always, that’s a two-way street. Most of the players don’t get to spend as much time with their parents during the season, so the Mentors’ Trip is something they look forward to as well.
“Yeah, it's huge,” says Connor McMichael. “I think the biggest reason I'm here is because my dad and also my mom. But my dad was a huge part of my success, whether it's when I was younger, playing hockey with me, and not so much forcing me to go to the rink, but he was on top of me, making sure that I was I was keeping up with it, and playing the game I love. And just to have him here and experience what I go through to a day to day basis is huge. And for my dad personally, it was his dream to play in the NHL. So for him to kind of live that dream through me is cool, and it's especially cool for me to be able to share that with him.”
Six Pack To Go – Among the group of mentors on this year’s trip are a remarkable six dads who have multiple sons playing pro hockey, and five of those dads have had multiple sons playing in the NHL. The other – Vladimir Protas, who is on his first Mentors’ Trip – will join the other five in that distinction once Ilya Protas matriculates from AHL Hershey to Washington.
In addition to Mr. Protas’ two sons (Aliaksei and Ilya) playing pro, the other five dads who’ve had at least two sons reach the NHL are John Leonard (John and Ryan), Frans van Riemsdyk (James and Trevor), Bob Lindgren (Charlie and Ryan), Patric Sandin (Linus and Rasmus) and Chris Strome (Dylan and Ryan). And Chris Strome has a third son, Matt, who is in his fourth season with the AHL Hershey Bears.
In The Nets – Charlie Lindgren gets the net tonight for the Capitals, and he will be seeking his eighth victory of the season. In his most recent start, Lindgren made 41 saves – matching his third-highest single-game total with the Capitals – in a 7-4 win over Anaheim this past Monday night.
In his last nine appearances (eight starts), Lindgren is 6-1-1 with a 2.87 GAA and an .897 save pct. Lifetime against Nashville, he is 0-2-0 in two appearances (both starts) with a 3.10 GAA and an .864 save pct.
Nashville played last night against Chicago at home, and veteran Juuse Saros was in the crease for that one, so there’s a decent chance the Caps see the Justus Annunen – the Preds’ other Finnish netminder – tonight.
Annunen is 3-5-1 with a 3.28 GAA and an .878 save pct. on the season, and he has won each of his last two starts, Dec. 21 against the Rangers in Nashville and on Dec. 31 in Vegas. Lifetime against the Capitals, Annunen is 0-1-0 in a single appearance – a start – with an 8.23 GAA and a .500 save pct. in 21:53 of work. That lone start came when he was a member of the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 15, 2024. Annunen won a career high 15 games last season, which was split between Colorado and Nashville. He signed a two-year contract extension with Nashville last week, a deal that begins with the 2026-27 season.
All Down The Line – Here’s how the Caps and Predators might look on Sunday night in Nashville:
WASHINGTON
Forwards
8-Ovechkin, 17-Strome, 21-Protas
24-McMichael, 34-Sourdif, 9-Leonard
72-Beauvillier, 26-Dowd, 53-Frank
22-Duhaime, 29-Lapierre, 20-Leason
Defensemen
42-Fehervary, 74-Carlson
6-Chychrun, 3-Roy
38-Sandin, 57-van Riemsdyk
Goaltenders
79-Lindgren
48-Thompson
Healthy Extras
15-Milano
47-Chisholm
52-McIlrath
Injured/Out
43-Wilson (lower body)
80-Dubois (abdomen)
NASHVILLE
Forwards
9-Forsberg, 90-O’Reilly, 91-Stamkos
58-Bunting, 56-Haula, 77-Evangelista
17-Jost, 40-Svechkov, 71-Wood
49-Schaefer, 47-McCarron, 36-Smith
Defensemen
59-Josi, 48-Perbix
76-Skjei, 83-Wilsby
41-Hague, 37-Blankenburg
Goalies
29-Annunen
74-Saros
Healthy Extras
20-Barron
Injured/Out
81-Marchessault (lower body)
89-Wiesblatt (upper body)
