Capitals can’t score enough to beat tired Predators: numbers for the morning after

The Washington Capitals couldn’t generate enough offense to down the Nashville Predators, who were playing on back-to-back nights. The tired Predators struck twice early in the third period and hung on to that lead, winning 3-2.

Winning streaks feel impossible right now. Not good.

• The Capitals carried the balance of play at five-on-five, but they didn’t turn much of that into actual offense. The Predators recorded just 16 combined five-on-five shot attempts in the second and third periods, but only ended the game down 8-5 in high-danger chances. The Caps just do not have enough players creating chances, and when they do, they still don’t have enough guys who can bury them in the net.
• Alex Ovechkin extended his goal-scoring streak to four games with his 20th goal of the season and the 917th of his career. With the goal, Ovechkin reached the 20-goal mark for the 21st consecutive season and passed Ron Francis (20) for the second-most 20-goal seasons in NHL history. He is also now on pace to score 36 goals this season.
• The power play scored two goals in the same game for just the third time this season. Both of the two previous games occurred before Thanksgiving. With the two goals, the Caps moved slightly up the power-play rankings in the league to 27th, operating at 15.9 percent effectiveness.

• Ryan Leonard notched another assist, giving him 28 points (9g, 19a) in 39 games this season. Over a full 82-game slate, Leonard would be on pace to record 59 points (19g, 40a) in his rookie campaign. That would be the sixth-best rookie season in franchise history, behind just Ovechkin (106), Nicklas Backstrom (69), Bobby Carpenter (67), Chris Valentine (67), and Bengt-Ake Gustafsson (60).
• In a game where one of the centers left early in the second period with an injury, Hendrix Lapierre played just 5:22 of ice time. The Capitals’ front office needs to end whatever this is by either waiving or trading the player. Brett Leason, recalled last week, played 9:30 against Nashville. Lapierre has not averaged over 9:30 in ice time per game since the first month of the season (10:52).
• The Capitals were utterly fantastic with Ethen Frank on the ice five-on-five, as during his minutes, they were up 20-10 in shot attempts, 10-5 in shots on goal, 9-3 in scoring chances, and 7-0 in high-danger chances. Frank also scored his eighth goal of the season on a late power play.