The Washington Capitals swept their back-to-back set of games with a hard-fought road win over the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. The tired Caps weathered the storm for parts of the game when they didn’t have their best and got some sweet shooting from a few of their stars to come out on top 4-3.
Certainly, not the prettiest victory in the world, but they all count the same. Get back home, fellas.
- The overall defensive effort was not there from the Capitals in this one, but they survived nonetheless, and their star offensive talent pushed them to the two points. At five-on-five, the Predators finished ahead 13-5 in high-danger chances and 2.16-1.85 in expected goals, with much of that damage coming in their late-third-period push to tie things up. While Nashville had more of the dangerous chances, it felt like the Capitals still held the territorial edge for much of the night, which helped them drain the clock.
- Cole Hutson was the game’s big story, scoring two highlight-reel goals that truly only a few other defensemen in the NHL could have scored. The two goals gave him his first career multi-goal night and made him one of just three rookie defensemen to have a multi-goal game in the last four seasons, joining Matthew Schaefer (4x) and Michael Benning. Hutson leads all rookie defenders in goals (4) and points (7) and is second in average time on ice per game (19:04).
- Alex Tuch scored the game-winning goal, his NHL-leading fifth of the season. He now has 10 goals in 12 games this year, needing the second-fewest games in franchise history to score his 10th goal with the club. He has also scored in three straight games and ranks tied for third in the league in goals, trailing only Kirill Kaprizov (14) and Leon Draisaitl (12). He has played fewer games than everyone in the top 10.
- Jack St. Ivany is apparently the next Bobby Orr with the Capitals, recording two more assists to give him four helpers in his first two games. He is the third defenseman in franchise history to record four assists in their first two games with the Caps, joining Rasmus Sandin and Brian Pothier. St. Ivany is also the first player in franchise history to record multiple assists in each of their first two games with the Capitals.
- Charlie Lindgren was phenomenal in what became his third straight win this season. He stopped 24 of 27 shots, and the Capitals needed him to stand on his head for long stretches. The victory marked Lindgren’s 70th win with the Capitals, tying Jim Carey and Pete Peeters for the fifth-most wins in franchise history.
- A ton of Nashville’s five-on-five damage came with Dylan Strome on the ice. During his minutes, the Capitals posted heavily negative differentials in shot attempts (-8), shots on goal (-4), scoring chances (-9), and high-danger chances (-9). Washington did not create a single five-on-five high-danger chance with Strome over the boards and allowed two goals. Weird one for Stromer after he’s been so good lately.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-Reference, NaturalStatTrick, and HockeyStatCards.
