NHL

Nashville Predators at Washington Capitals

· National Hockey League

Ovechkin scores his 861st career goal as the Capitals hand the struggling Predators another loss

Alex Ovechkin scores goal vs. Predators

Ovechkin beat Juuse Saros with 9:35 left in regulation for his eighth goal of the season, tying Connor McMichael for the team lead. Ovechkin is now just 34 goals from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career goals record and is on pace to do it before this season is over.

McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, who have won nine of their first 12 games. Logan Thompson made 33 saves to improve to 6-0-0 in his first six starts with Washington.

The Predators' woes continued despite 33 saves from Saros and goals by Juuso Parssinen and Steven Stamkos. Nashville has opened 4-8-1 after signing Stamkos, 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei in a $100 million-plus free agency spending spree.

Takeaways Predators: Coach Andrew Brunette acknowledged frustration seeping into his team's game from not scoring, and hitting posts and the crossbar multiple times won't help that effort.

Capitals: Matt Roy, who was injured in the season opener, had an assist in his 20:07 of ice time in his return.

Key moment Officials waved off a possible Nashville goal with 7:47 left for goaltender interference. Brunette challenged, and the call stood, putting the Predators on the penalty kill for the following 2 minutes at a time they needed to push to try to tie it.

Key stat Dylan Strome setting up Ovechkin's goal was the 200th assist of his career. Only two players in the league have more than Strome's 15 assists this season.

Up next The Predators play the second half of their back to back Thursday night at Florida, while the Capitals host Pittsburgh on Friday night.

Regular Season Series

WSH leads series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 3:12 Juuso Parssinen Goal (1) Tip-In, assists: Luke Evangelista (5), Philip Tomasino (1)
Goal 1st Period 4:26 Connor McMichael Goal (8) Snap Shot, assists: Matt Roy (1), Pierre-Luc Dubois (6)
Goal 2nd Period 15:03 Aliaksei Protas Goal (5) Snap Shot, assists: Alex Ovechkin (8), Dylan Strome (14)
Goal 2nd Period 15:34 Steven Stamkos Goal (3) Tip-In, assists: Alexandre Carrier (4), Ryan O'Reilly (7)
Goal 3rd Period 10:25 Alex Ovechkin Goal (8) Snap Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (15), Martin Fehervary (2)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH
20 Blocked Shots 19
34 Hits 34
7 Takeaways 6
35 Shots 36
0 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 6
0.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
33 Faceoffs Won 30
52.4 Faceoff Win Percent 47.6
12 Giveaways 19
6 Total Penalties 2
12 Penalty Minutes 4

Game Information

Capital One Arena

Location: Washington, DC
Attendance: 17,177 | Capacity:

2024-25 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Winnipeg 17 3 34 0
Minnesota 13 3 29 3
Dallas 12 6 24 0
Colorado 11 9 22 0
St. Louis 9 11 19 1
Utah 7 9 17 3
Chicago 7 12 15 1
Nashville 6 11 15 3

2024-25 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 14 5 28 0
New Jersey 13 7 28 2
Washington 13 5 27 1
NY Rangers 12 5 25 1
NY Islanders 7 8 19 5
Columbus 8 9 18 2
Philadelphia 8 10 18 2
Pittsburgh 7 11 18 4
Full Standings