This is the toughest game on the Capitals’ schedule this season, at least so far: on the road, playing Nashville, playing Nashville in Nashville, how they’ve been playing as of late, and playing the second half of a back-to-back with the same goalie who started last night. This all set the Predators up for success, and they cashed in during the first period. Viktor Arvidsson and Nick Bonino both scored on odd-man rushes, leaving the Caps trailing 0-2 after 20. Here’s to hoping the boys in red put a little pep in their step after intermission, because this game is moving fast and right now they’re not keeping up. Second period ahead...<doc-sep>It looked like the Caps were picking things up during the second, even after Viktor Arvidsson scored his second goal of the game just 81 seconds in. Nicklas Backstrom netted a power play goal, and they were rolling into their second man-advantage of the night when Arvidsson scored his third goal on the night. The hats rained down, and the Capitals’ momentum deflated. Nashville added insult to injury with a Rocco Grimaldi highlight-reel tally and Nick Bonino’s second of the night, extending their lead to 6-1 after 40. Maybe the Tom Wilson-Auston Watson tussle towards the end of the period will kick Washington back into gear, third period ahead...<doc-sep>It's the first game back after...let's call it two consecutive road trips for the Nashville Predators, since Laviolette did. That stop home between Columbus and Carolina might have been a mistake. The Capitals are coming off a two-game losing streak of their own: an OT loss to the Blue Jackets (sounds familiar) on a goal scored by Artemi Panarin from Seth Jones (sounds reeeeal familiar), followed by a blowout loss to a non-playoff team that should be better—in the Capitals' case, to the St. Louis Blues. The Caps played last night, which means they'll be tired for the current matchup, but the Predators should still be careful not to underestimate them. Alex Ovechkin leads the team in points with 51 and goals with 33. He's been scoring at a terrific pace and in defiance of his age. Nicklas Bäckström's 45 points (11G/34A) are good for second on the team, while John Carlson leads defenders in points with 42 and all skaters in assists with 36. Also, Tom Wilson is actually playing hockey when he can pencil it in between suspensions for dangerous play this year. He has 22 points in 26 games and gets regular top-six minutes, most often with Ovechkin. The Preds will not have the option of not putting skill players out against Wilson's line. Braden Holtby was injured in Saturday's loss to the Blue Jackets. Backup Pheonix Copley, who has a .914 sv% this season, finished that game, played last night against the Blues, and may or may not start tonight against the Preds, depending on Holtby's status. The Capitals have not recalled any other goalies. Holtby has a .912 on the season. For a change, the Caps' usually-deadly power play has been sputtering lately, while the penalty kill has been bleeding opportunities the last few games. The Capitals will have a great opportunity to frustrate us all by getting their PP back on track tonight. The Nashville Predators The Preds' Sunday matinee loss to the Hurricanes was...bad. Let's just put that out there. The team has struggled recently with a whole lot of things, but their biggest issues have been getting quality and not giving quality up to the opponent. And the power play. And the defense, at all strengths and from forwards as well as defenders. Hopefully some familiar sights and sounds will inspire them to play better. As much as I hate to say it, Pekka Rinne needs to play better as well. He can't be blamed for the team's recent surge of goals against—there have been way too many games lately where Rinne looked like the only Predators player who remembered the start time, and that takes its toll, as does the number of games someone of his age has been playing—but he has still been allowing more goals than is ideal. The team absolutely needs to play better in front of him, but it's not as much of a one-way street as I'd like it to be, either. It will be interesting to see if Juuse Saros gets the start tonight, at the very least so Rinne can get some rest. Phillip Di Giuseppe was waived yesterday, which may mean someone—possibly Yannick Weber, who seemed to be practicing with Dan Hamhuis yesterday—is headed back from IR. Speaking of the defense pairings, yesterday's practice also included Roman Josi skating with P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm skating with Ryan Ellis. It might be just a practice nothing, but Im excited about the opportunity to see how Subban and Josi play together when the team isn’t on fire. Reasons to Watch Definitely excited about this possible defense. Sometimes Filip Forsberg does things when playing the team that drafted him. Tuesday night hockey! The world has righted itself. How to Watch The game starts at 7 PM Central. You can watch it live at Bridgestone or on your TVs on FS-TN, or listen to the radio call on 102.5 The Game.<doc-sep>The Nashville Predators like seeing the Washington Capitals, at least this season. The Preds netted a season-high seven goals in a 7-2 victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions at Bridgestone Arena. In two games this season, the Predators (28-16-4, 60 points) have outscored the Capitals 13-5. North Pole, Alaska native Pheonix Copley (this is not made up, promise) started in goal for the Capitals (27-14-5, 59 points) and had to work early and often. Viktor Arvidsson beat Copley five-hole 3:45 into the contest after being sprung on a breakaway from a Mattias Ekholm pass through the neutral zone. Ekholm’s assist gave him his 35th point, tying his career-best season total in just 47 games. Nick Bonino doubled the lead, converting a 2-on-1 with Colton Sissons. The horn didn’t go right away as the referee initially waved the goal off before Copley pointed out the puck stuck in the net. Arvidsson struck again early in the second, redirecting P.K. Subban’s point shot past Copley 1:21 into the period. A slashing call on Jakub Vrana sent Nashville to the game’s first power play at the 1:55 mark of the second. Although a couple of good chances came early in the man advantage, eventually nothing came of it. Subban was called for tripping at the 6:01 mark, putting Washington on its first power play of the game. Nicklas Backstrom tipped in a Carlson feed at 7:07 to cut Nashville’s lead to 3-1. Calle Järnkrok was sent to the box for tripping at the 11:41 mark, but a neutral zone turnover, combined with a great effort play by Ryan Johansen, sprung Arvidsson on a breakaway. Arvy buried it five-hole for the hat trick with 7:52 to play in the period. Rocco Grimaldi joined the fun with a goal-of-the-year candidate at 14:57, finishing a spin-o-rama with a stiff backhand past Copley. Evgeny Kuznetsov was called for hooking late in the period, yet the resulting power play failed to yield anything for the Predators. Bonino scored his second of the game on a redirection of a Ekholm shot in front with 5.8 seconds left in the second period. The Preds returned to the power play at 4:54 of the third after John Carlson was called for slashing, and although nothing came of the man advantage, Calle Järnkrok buried Nashville’s seventh goal off a Kevin Fiala assist at the 7:56 mark of the period. Carlson was sent off for unsportsmanlike conduct and also received a 10-minute misconduct at the 10:56 mark. T.J. Oshie scored his 14th goal of the season with 3:49 to play. Random Observations It’s only been two weeks, but it sure feels like a month since there’s been a home game. One by one, that IR list shortens. Welcome back, Yannick Weber . . I’m all for a goaltender with Copley’s last name, but dang it, spell Phoenix correctly. This start is much better than Sunday’s game at Carolina, but then again, that bar was buried about 20 feet underground. Can’t make a better pass than Ekholm did to Arvy. Also can’t make a better finish, either. Love Arvy’s unselfish nature wanting to pass to Fil on that 2-on-1, but for heaven’s sake, shoot the puck. They’re giving it to you... That puck clearly went in. What a strange 10-second sequence. It’s clear that Washington is feeling the effects of the back-to-back. Weber gets caught pinching in too far, Hamhuis bails him out by poke-checking away a possible 3-on-1 One of these days I want to see Arvy in the fastest skater competition at the All-Star Game. Just to see. Strange sequence as Saros went out a long way to play a loose puck and it nearly costs him. Strong play by Bonino to bail the guys out as time runs out in the period. Arvy with a stellar redirect for his second of the night. Roman Josi really helped set that play up. really helped set that play up. A couple of good chances on that power play, including Forsberg undressing the Caps’ PK, but still... Go thank your left post, Juuse It’s National Hat Day and Arvy wants to see a bunch thrown... ...and they were thrown. Also, that play by Joey to spring Arvy was a work of art. Austin Watson and Tom Wilson are gonna have a go. Shocker. and are gonna have a go. Shocker. Oh. My. God. Rocco Grimaldi. I think the entire crowd just got pregnant by that goal. Hell, I probably did. The D pairings work well. Funny that it took the sixth guy (Weber) coming back for these combos to happen, but here we are. Five(!) Stars of the Game Arvy. I locked this one in during the second period for obvious reasons. Grimaldi. One of the best goals I’ve ever seen in person. Saros. He really got overshadowed by all the goal scoring, but he’s got it going right now. (I’m cheating, sue me) Bonino. It’s so hard to put him here with a two-goal night, but it’s because the other three deserved those spots. Ekholm. Not gonna stop talking about him if he keeps this production up. Tweets of the Night Some of y'all get wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too caught up in the numbering of the lines. — Robby Stanley (@RStanleyNHL) January 16, 2019 Grimaldi has been one of NSH’s best play-drivers over the last month. I might consider giving him more ice time, if it were me — five time olympian khatuna lorig (@statsrespecter) January 16, 2019 Forcing a goalie to prove he's been scored on... that's particularly harsh haha. #Preds | #WSHvsNSH — Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) January 16, 2019 Who does Rocco Grimaldi think he is, Viktor Arvidsson? — Joe Rexrode (@joerexrode) January 16, 2019 Denis Savard!!! The Spin A Rama goal. Wait! that was ROCCO GRIMALDI. #Preds — Marc Nathan (@mdnathan) January 16, 2019 After Rocco’s goal, Pekka Rinne grabbed a towel off the equipment rack and started waving it around...like a helicopter. #preds — Kara Hammer (@KaraHammer) January 16, 2019 Those contract negotiations are gonna be a war in 2026 or whatever — J.R. Lind (@jrlind) January 16, 2019<doc-sep>
After a rough game against St. Louis last night, Washington was looking to get back on track and avoid a three-game losing streak. Reirden made some lineup changes, and Pheonix Copley started his second game in as many nights to give Braden Holtby a bit more time to fully recover from his eye injury. This was always going to be a tough game for the Capitals (second night of a back-to-back against a very good Nashville team on their turf), and the Copley situation didn’t help, but this was a particularly bad showing for them. The Predators took advantage of their sloppy play and absolutely routed the Caps for a 7-1 victory. Here’s Tuesday night’s Plus/Minus: Plus: Even though they allowed a shorthanded goal, the Capitals’ power play looked sharp tonight. Hopefully this means the man-advantage is getting back on track. Minus: Pheonix Copley had looked good so far this season, but he had a rough night in net for Washington. He allowed seven goals on 29 shots, and this is one of the only times he’s looked like a back-up. And now, this… Twelve more notes on the game: 1. The Capitals needed a strong start and they...did not get one. Viktor Arvidsson got the Predators on the board first at the 3:45 mark after a pass from WIlson to Ovechkin was stolen away and thrown up the ice by Ekholm. Copley was frozen on the odd-man rush, giving Arvidsson his second goal in as many games between these two teams this season. Something else to note: Nashville blueliner Mattias Ekholm now has 21 assists in his last 27 games. 2. Does anyone else still wince when they hear the name Nick Bonino? If you do, then the Predators’ second goal of the night probably didn’t help. Another odd-man rush, another goal, and this time it was Bonino with the wrist shot past Copley. This came just seven minutes after the Preds’ first goal. 3. Arvidsson got back on the score sheet just 81 seconds into the second period with a beautiful deflection of a PK Subban shot from the blue line. Copley had no chance on that one, and Nashville extended their lead to 3-0. 4. 34 seconds later, Jakub Vrana was sent to the box for slashing. With both Devante Smith-Pelly and Chandler Stephenson out of the lineup to night, the Capitals’ penalty kill seemed uncertain. However, the Caps held on and didn’t allow a shot on goal from Nashville’s power play. 5. With 14 minutes left in the period, it was Washington’s turn to go on the man advantage after PK Subban called for tripping. Nicklas Backstrom answered the call with a slick deflection past Juuse Saros to get the Caps on the board. They were still down 1-3, but things were picking up. Great deflection by Backstrom pic.twitter.com/FrcLJLf0b3 — HockeyKot (@hockeykot) January 16, 2019 6. About five minutes later, Calle Jarnkrok was called for tripping and the Caps rolled into their second power play of the night. However, all of the energy that had been building since Nicky’s goal was negated when Arvidsson his second career hat trick on a shorthanded goal just 27 seconds in. Ryan Johansen set him up for a breakaway, and the hats rained down in Brigestone Arena. Nashville up 4-1. 7. Rocco Grimaldi decided to add insult to injury with an incredible highlight-reel goal to extend the Predators’ lead to 5-1. It’s hard to get angry at such a pretty goal, but feel free to get mad at the lack of effort from Burakovsky on this one. That's one for the highlight reel. Grimaldi scores a spinning bakchander. 5-1 Predators. #CapsPreds pic.twitter.com/BozmKPKLlG — NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) January 16, 2019 8. Perhaps in hopes to spark something, Tom Wilson took on Predators forward Austin Watson towards the end of the period. They tussled, exchanged some jabs, and Wilson walked away with the victory. Tom Wilson takes down Austin Watson pic.twitter.com/GiKZXqWDGl — HockeyKot (@hockeykot) January 16, 2019 9. That should have been the end of the second period, but Nick Bonino had other plans. With 5.8 seconds left on the clock, he tipped in a shot from Ekholm to give the Predators a 6-1 lead after 40. If things weren’t ugly before, they sure were now. 10. A bad turnover in the Capitals’ defensive zone gave the Preds their seventh goal of the game, this one courtesy of Calle Jarnkrok. 7-1 Nashville. 11.