The final game before the Olympic break has arrived, and the Nashville Predators are in Washington to face the Capitals for a 6 p.m. CT puck drop from Capital One Arena. This evening’s contest is the second and final meeting between the two clubs this season; the Preds defeated the Caps last month.
After a dramatic, 6-5 comeback win over the Blues on Monday, the Predators had another 6-5 final on Wednesday, but it was the visiting Minnesota Wild who won in overtime. Now, with just one more game to go before a three-week hiatus in the schedule, the Preds would love nothing more than to enter the Olympic break with a win.
“We’ve got three periods left,” Preds forward Luke Evangelista said following last night’s loss. “These points matter more to us than anyone in the League. And we know that. We know the position we're in. We just got to give it our all for three more periods. Find a way to scratch out two points. These are huge, huge games for us.”
Prior to Wednesday’s game, the Preds recalled forward Reid Schaefer from Milwaukee, and the rookie appeared in his 26th contest of the season.
Defenseman Nic Hague returned to the Nashville lineup after missing time with a lower-body injury. Forward Ozzy Wiesblatt and defenseman Justin Barron were healthy scratches against the Wild.
The Good Guys:
Five different Nashville skaters - Filip Forsberg, Steven Stamkos, Erik Haula, Evangelista and Roman Josi - all tallied against the Wild, while Juuse Saros took the loss in net.
Ryan O’Reilly, who had three assists last night, has 20 goals and 56 points on the season, followed by Forsberg with 24 goals and 47 points, and then Stamkos with 28 goals and 44 points. Evangelista has 34 assists and 42 points; Josi has 11 goals and 39 points from the backend. Saros is now 21-17-5; Justus Annunen is 5-6-2.
The Opposition:
The Capitals had won three straight, but they fell to Philadelphia by a 4-2 final on Tuesday night. Tom Wilson leads the club with 22 goals and 48 points; Alex Ovechkin also has 22 goals and 47 points. Dylan Strome (16g-29a) and John Carlson (10g-35a) have 45 points apiece. Logan Thompson is 18-16-4 in net, and Charlie Lindgren is 8-6-3, but both of those goaltenders have been dealing with injuries. Clay Stevenson has made three appearances this season with two wins.
All-Time Meetings:
The Preds are 21-14-(1)-4 all-time against the Capitals, including a 9-8-(0)-2 mark on the road. Nashville is 5-5-0 in the last 10 meetings versus Washington and 3-2-0 in the past five in D.C.
General Manager Barry Trotz won the 2018 Stanley Cup as head coach of the Capitals. He spent four seasons with Washington from 2014-18, going 205-89-34 in 328 games as head coach.
Filip Forsberg was selected by Washington in the first round (11th overall) of the 2012 NHL Draft. The Predators acquired Forsberg from the Capitals for Martin Erat and Michael Latta on April 3, 2013.
Nashville Notables:
Steven Stamkos passed Mario Lemieux (236) and tied Brendan Shanahan (237) for the seventh-most power-play goals in NHL history with his goal last night.
Roman Josi tied Erik Karlsson and Zdeno Chara (both w/ 41) for the third-most game-tying goals by a defenseman born outside of North America. The only others with more are Nicklas Lidstrom (54) and Sergei Gonchar (51).
Milestone Watch:
Michael Bunting played in his 400th career NHL game on Feb. 4 vs. Minnesota.
Jonathan Marchessault is one assist from 300 in his NHL career.
Brady Skjei is three points from 300 in his NHL career.
Watch & Listen:
Coverage for this evening’s contest begins at 5:30 p.m. CT with the Predators LIVE! pregame show on FanDuel Sports Network South, hosted by Lyndsay Rowley. Play-by-play announcer Willy Daunic and Chris Mason will have the call on the television side. Voice of the Preds Pete Weber and Hal Gill will call the game on 102.5 The Game and the Predators Radio Network.
