After nearly 20 days away from Bridgestone Arena the Nashville Predators played their first home contest in 2025. They kicked off the second half of the season losing 4-1 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday night.
Washington’s goalie Logan Thompson pitched a stellar effort making 32 saves against the Predators. Forward Alex Ovechkin had two points with his goal coming as the empty netter to seal the win.
“I don’t know if I’ve been part of something like this where the whole team is snake bitten,” head coach Andrew Brunette said. “The production has been off for all of our guys. I credit them for coming to work every day and bringing that energy and bringing the effort.
“You feel bad for them, I wish you could help them more. But for me, it’s about going back to the drawing board and thinking of some solutions if I can find it for them.”
The opening frame between the Predators and Capitals featured a high-octane offense from Nashville. In the first seven minutes, the Predators had 10 shot attempts with four pucks finding the net. By the end of the night, Nashville had 33 shots on 76 attempts. A new season high in shot attempts passing 68 which has been achieved twice.
From driving the slot to quick shots from the perimeter the Predators were trying to generate looks as often as possible. None of it ended up being enough as the final score indicated.
“I got a little mad there in the third period just because I could feel it, we weren’t sharp enough with the puck,” Brunette said. “I thought we were leaving pucks in the middle of the ice. They weren’t getting anything out of it, but sooner or later when you leave a puck it’s a mistake and we didn’t take care of it.
“That’s been a little bit of our problem a lot of the year where we’re not taking care of the puck in certain areas and I thought we got loose with it. They didn’t get anything out of it until we misjudged a play. When you’re not scoring your margins are tiny and you can’t afford to have a lull in your game.”
Offensive zone entries were smoother as Nashville wanted to assert their game against the Capitals. To no avail, neither team found the back of the net, despite a late push from Nashville’s top line, in the first period after a combined 13 shots.
Washington had their first powerplay of the game 41 seconds into the second stanza as defenseman Nick Blankenburg was called for tripping. Nashville kept the NHL’s 11th-ranked powerplay at bay as Roman Josi & Luke Schenn each blocked a shot.
Nashville’s attack persisted for approximately five minutes until they were back on the penalty kill. This time it was Josi who was called for hooking.
The Capitals were working around the perimeter and a lane opened up for Dylan Strome to get the puck to the front of the net as Brady Skjei was covering Tom Wilson. Skjei had the puck at his feet but Wilson buried the loose puck to take the 1-0 lead.
Nashville consistently kept Thompson on his toes late in the second period, that is until he let up his first goal as Nashville got their first powerplay with 4:28 remaining.
Forsberg wristed his 11th goal of the season behind Thompson–fifth on the man advantage–to even the score at 1-1. After two periods the Predators and Capitals combined for a total of 28 shots.
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As the third period got going the shot volume had decreased across the board. Just five minutes in there was a combined five shots on goal. Neither squad could expose the middle of the ice and take advantage.
Nashville had a quick chance on a rush with Michael McCarron as he skated up the ice to create a chance on the fly. He found Colton Sissons on the left for a shot but Thompson stood tall to keep it 1-1.
“We’re still a little bit in this mode where we’re differing to guys instead of being direct, we’re having a hard time understanding that too,” Brunette said “It’s partly because we’re struggling and we’re trying to make something work offensively. At the same time the directness of our game, it’s going to work you’re going to get opportunities, we get cute and I don’t know why.”
Thompson’s play continued to pay dividends for his team as rookie Ethen Frank scored his first NHL goal to make it 2-1 Washington with 11:30 to play. He beat Saros five-hole after receiving a stretch pass from Matt Roy.
Nashville went on to draw their second penalty of the night, but their effort wasn’t enough to muster a goal to knot it up at two.
Washington put a late dagger past Saros as Andrew Mangiapane was all alone in front of the net as Brandon Duhaime dished him a pass. Ovechkin scored his 20th goal of the season as Saros was on the bench for the extra attacker.
Nashville is back in action on Tuesday evening against the Vegas Golden Knights. Stay tuned for the action right here on 102.5 The Game.
Follow Nick Kieser on Twitter/X: @KieserNick
Photos courtesy of the Nashville Predators
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