Washington Capitals (7-4-0, 14 pts.) vs. Nashville Predators (4-3-5, 13 pts.)
7 p.m. CT | Bridgestone Arena | Buy Tickets
Watch: Scripps Sports/The Spot - Nashville 28; PredsTV App (in-market); ESPN+ (out-of-market)
Listen: 102.5 The Game, Preds Radio Network; El Jefe
Live Stats: GameCenter
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A special night in Smashville arrives as the Predators get set to host the Washington Capitals shortly after 7 p.m. CT at Bridgestone Arena. This evening’s contest is the first of two meetings between the clubs this season; the Preds will visit the Caps in February.
Ahead of tonight’s game, Barry Trotz - Nashville’s first head coach and former general manager as well - will be inducted into the Preds Golden Hall as the sole member of the Class of 2026. Trotz, who also coached the Capitals to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2018, is certainly looking forward to the festivities and being enshrined by the franchise he considers his own.
“Well, this franchise, to me, is everything, really,” Trotz said ahead of his induction. “It gave me an opportunity…and probably the number one thing is seeing where it started and where it ended up. Where it started was in a non-traditional market, not knowing if we were going to make it. I mean, history was that we were moving to Hamilton, [Ontario], and it was able to stay, stabilize, have success, and now it is a big part of the community. That, to me, is everything because this is my home.”
Once the puck drops, the Predators will look to extend their point streak to four games against a Capitals team that defeated the Flyers by a 5-2 final last night. Plus, Washington Captain Alex Ovechkin - the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer - is set to make his final appearance in Nashville before he retires at the end of the season.
On Tuesday, the Preds battled back from a 3-0 deficit to force overtime against the Islanders before eventually falling in a shootout. Tonight, a better start will be a focus, as well as budding off the positives in the third period that helped Nashville earn a point.
“Down the stretch we played really well,” Preds forward Alex Kerfoot said Tuesday night. “We took it to them and had chances. It's tough to get points in this League, it’s tough to get wins in this League, and we just have to keep chipping away.”
The Predators held off-ice workouts and meetings on Wednesday. Nashville kept the same lineup on Tuesday with 11 forwards and seven defensemen dressed. Ilya Lyubushkin, Reid Schaefer and Vitali Pinchuk were scratched.
Last Time Out:
Filip Forsberg, Alex Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly all tallied for the Preds on Tuesday, while Juuse Saros took the loss in net. Per NHL Stats, Filip Forsberg scored his 98th career power-play goal and passed Kent Nilsson (97) for the 11th most in NHL history by a Swedish player.
Steven Stamkos leads the Preds with seven goals and 15 points, followed by O’Reilly - who also has seven goals - with 13 points. Forsberg has 10 assists and 13 points, while Roman Josi has 11 helpers and 12 points. Saros is 3-2-4 in net; Justus Annunen is 1-1-0.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 21-15-(1)-4 all-time against the Caps, including a 12-6-(1)-2 mark at home. Nashville is 4-6-0 in the last 10 versus Washington and 2-3-0 in the last five meetings at Bridgestone Arena.
Nashville Notables:
The Predators’ power play ranks third in the NHL, operating at 31.7 percent (13-for-41). Ryan O’Reilly (4), Steven Stamkos (3), Filip Forsberg (2), Jonathan Marchessault (2), Nils Hoglander (1) and Matthew Wood (1) have scored for Nashville with the man advantage.
The penalty kill ranks fourth in the league (87.5 percent); Nashville and Toronto are the only two teams in the league with both special team units in the top five of each category.
Milestone Watch:
Nic Hague is one point from 100 in his NHL career.
Roman Josi is three assists from passing Ryan Suter for the 24th-most all-time. Josi is five goals from passing Larry Robinson and tying Zdeno Chara for the 23rd-most all-time by a blueliner.
Steven Stamkos is two power-play goals from passing Phil Esposito and moving into a tie with Luc Robitaille for the fifth-most in NHL history.
Watch & Listen:
New this season, Preds fans can watch all locally broadcast Predators games on The Spot – Nashville 28 (WNPX) over the air with an antenna or on cable and satellite distributors serving the Predators territory.
Predators fans within the team’s TV viewing area can also stream 81 locally broadcast games for just $74 – less than $1 per game.
Nashville’s games will be streamed on the Nashville Predators App, which is available on the following devices:
- iOS/Android
- Amazon Fire TV
- Android TV
- Apple TV
- Roku
- Web via PredsTV.com
The season pass also includes access to on-demand game replays and exclusive content, such as “Inside Smashville,” a weekly magazine show that launches Friday, Oct. 2 on The Spot – Nashville 28 and Predators streaming platforms.
In addition to 81 of the team’s regular-season games being available on The Spot – Nashville 28 and via the Nashville Predators App stream, the remaining three contests will be exclusively broadcast on ESPN+.
Click here for more information on streaming and viewing options.
Fans may also listen on 102.5 The Game, the Preds Radio Network and El Jefe Radio.
