The Nashville Predators will attempt to halt the surging momentum of Alex Tuch and his Washington Capitals linemates when the two teams meet on Thursday night at Bridgestone Arena. The matchup brings the Capitals to Tennessee for what marks Alex Ovechkin’s final regular-season appearance at the venue.
Washington arrives following a 5-2 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night, a result that capped a 4-1 homestand. In that game, Tuch recorded his second consecutive two-goal performance, bringing his season tally to nine goals. His linemates also heavily contributed to the scoresheet against Philadelphia; Jordan Kyrou scored twice, center Dylan Strome delivered three assists, and Aliaksei Protas netted his first goal of the season. Goaltender Logan Thompson stopped 23 shots after returning from a one-game absence due to a lower-body injury.
“Probably our most complete 60 minutes and didn’t let them get a whole lot of sustained zone time besides the two penalties in the third, but other than that, a really solid game,” Strome said following the win. “And when we did have a little bit of a blunder, [Thompson] was there for us.”
Strome enters the upcoming contest with six points over his past two games, while Kyrou has accumulated eight points across his last five outings. The Capitals have played only three road games so far this season, dropping two of them.
“Nashville’s a tough team, I’ve played against them a bunch in my past,” said Kyrou, formerly of the St. Louis Blues. “It’s not going to be an easy game. We just want to play aggressive and support each other out there.”
Ovechkin enters the matchup with one goal and three assists across 11 games this season. Historically against Nashville, the veteran forward has recorded 20 goals and 12 assists in 31 career games.
On the other side, the Predators are currently playing the middle game of a five-game homestand. Nashville enters Thursday following a 4-3 shootout loss to the New York Islanders, a game in which the Predators erased a 3-0 second-period deficit to force overtime. Despite the loss, Nashville has earned points in three straight games, standing at 1-0-2 over that stretch, though the team holds an 0-0-5 record in games decided beyond regulation.
Against the Islanders, Filip Forsberg registered a goal and an assist, while Alex Kerfoot and Ryan O’Reilly also scored. Goaltender Juuse Saros made 25 saves.
“We’ve had some hard nights here of late, either letting some leads slip away or not winning overtime or shootout,” Predators coach Andrew Brunette said. Reflecting on a sluggish start that saw New York build a quick lead, Brunette added, “The start of the game wasn’t where we wanted to be. I don’t know, I’m trying to put my finger on it. It seems like it’s been a year [or] year and a half of talking about this, but we’re having trouble grabbing it.”
Forsberg has produced five points over his past two games. In historical head-to-head metrics, Saros holds a 5-5-0 career record against Washington with a 2.74 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. Likely Washington starter Charlie Lindgren carries an 0-3 career record against Nashville, alongside a 3.10 goals-against average and an .862 save percentage.
The two clubs split a pair of matchups last season. Roman Josi contributed a goal and two assists in a 3-2 Predators victory on Jan. 11 in Nashville, while Jakob Chychrun posted two goals and an assist during a 4-2 Capitals win on Feb. 5 in Washington.
