The Washington Capitals lost their third-straight game Thursday night, falling to the Nashville Predators 6-5 in a high-scoring affair.
The Predators were led by first-line forward Filip Forsberg who scored in his fourth-straight game to open the 2019-20 season.
Forsberg, formerly a top prospect of the Capitals, has consistently lit up his former team since becoming a full-time NHL player in 2014. Thursday, Forsberg had two big points, a goal and an assist, which tied the game at two different crucial times.
Goal
Forsberg’s first point of the night came on a goal. 10:39 into the first period, Forsberg answered Lars Eller, scoring on Braden Holtby with a beautiful breakaway goal where he deked before depositing the puck over the Holtbeast’s shoulder.
Filip Forsberg, that guy George McPhee traded for Martin Erat, scored on the Capitals again. 🙃🙃🙃 pic.twitter.com/z0nIbJ1DEm
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 11, 2019
The goal was Forsberg’s fourth of the season and tied the game 1-1.
Assist
Later, in the third period, Forsberg put Tom Wilson through the ringer, dekeing before sliding the puck on his backhand to Matt Duchene. Duchene would score. It’d be his first goal as a Predator since signing a lucrative seven-year, $56 million deal with Nashville over the offseason.
Another reminder that Filip Forsberg is nasty. That's Matt Duchene's first goal as a Predator. pic.twitter.com/McQiutrKZ8
— Ian Oland (@ianoland) October 11, 2019
The goal tied the game 4-4 in the third period. The Predators would go on to win 6-5.
Forsberg, who fell to the Capitals at 11th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft (five spots before they selected Tom Wilson), was a highly-rated prospect with Leksands IF of the Allsvenskan League. But during the 2013 NHL trade deadline, George McPhee dealt Forsberg for Martin Erat (and Michael Latta) to give the Capitals more skill down the stretch.
“It happened suddenly, I didn’t know anything about [the trade] until I read it,” an upset Forsberg said of the trade then. “All I can do is accept it.”
The Capitals lost in the first round to the New York Rangers that year and would miss the playoffs entirely in 2014.
Meanwhile, in Nashville, Forsberg turned into a bonafide first-liner and one of the best young players in the game, scoring 26 or more goals and registering 50 or more points in five straight seasons. It only took Forsberg seven games to score as many goals (6) against Washington as Martin Erat and Michael Latta scored in their Caps careers combined (175 games). The trade is regarded as the worst in Capitals’ history.
Forsberg has pummeled the Caps when he’s played against them head-to-head despite Washington usually having a Vezina Trophy winner, Braden Holtby, in net.
Here’s how Filip’s done in his 10 games against the Caps since 2014.
| Game | Date | Goals | Assists | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 01/16/15 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | 03/28/15 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | 02/09/16 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 | 03/18/16 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | 02/25/17 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 6 | 03/16/17 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 11/14/17 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 04/05/18 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 01/15/19 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 | 10/10/19 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 7 | 6 | 13 |
Forsberg has tallied four multi-point games against the Caps. Among teams the Forsberg has played 10 times or less, the young Swede has scored more goals (7) and points (13) against the Capitals than any other team. He is shooting 23.3 percent in those 10 games against Washington, 10 percent higher than his career average (12.8 percent).
Now that the Capitals have won a Stanley Cup in 2018, this trade doesn’t hurt or taste bitter anymore. There are no more what could have beens. Brian MacLellan has turned the Capitals into a perennial championship contender despite the blunder made by his predecessor, George McPhee.
So Alan’s right.
But he doesn’t have a Stanley Cup ring! If Caps don’t make that horrible trade, they wouldn’t have made all of the changes that led to 2018 Stanley Cup championship! https://t.co/MQSLA3Ixao
— Alan May (@MayHockeyNBCS) October 11, 2019
But, man, Filip sure does play at the top of his game when he plays against Washington. Can he stop please? We get it. You’re good.
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
