Capitals 3-2 Predators (November 6, 2024) Game Recap

WASHINGTON – Alex Ovechkin scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period to reach 861 points of his career, and the Washington Capitals beat the struggling Nashville Predators 3-2 on Wednesday night.

Ovechkin defeated Juuse Saros 9:35 minutes before the end of regular time and secured his eighth goal of the season. With that, Connor McMichael took over the leadership of the team. Ovechkin is just 34 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career scoring record and is on pace to do so 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 and improved to 6-0-0 in his first six appearances for Washington.

The Predators' problems continued despite 33 saves from Saros and goals from Juuso Parssinen and Steven Stamkos. Nashville is off to a 4-8-1 start after signing Stamkos, 2023 playoff MVP Jonathan Marchessault and defenseman Brady Skjei in a $100 million-plus spending spree.

Takeaways

Predators: Coach Andrew Brunette admitted that frustration was seeping into his team's game over not scoring, and that multiple hits on the post and crossbar were not helping that performance.

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

Key moment

The officials waved off a possible Nashville goal with 7:47 left due to goaltender interference. Brunette challenged and the decision stood, leaving the Predators facing a penalty shootout for the following two minutes in which they had to apply pressure to try and equalize.

Key statistics

Dylan Strome assisted Ovechkin's goal, the 200th assist of his career. Only two players in the league have more than Strome's 15 assists this season.

Next

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

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl