Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored his 861st career goal midway through the third period to lift Washington to a 3-2 victory over the Nashville Predators. The Great 8 scored his eighth goal of the season, tying him with center Connor McMichael for the team lead.
McMichael and forward Aliaksei Protas also scored, and goalie Logan Thompson stopped 33 of 35 shots he faced to improve to 6-0-0 in Washington. Center Dylan Strome picked up his 200th career assist on Ovechkin’s goal and defenseman Matt Roy picked up his first assist with the Capitals, with the primary helper on McMichael’s tally.
On the other side of the ice, Nashville dropped to a hugely disappointing 4-8-1 on the season. A perennial playoff team featuring Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi and Steven Stamkos is clearly not where they hoped to be after their first dozen or so games. Rather than scheduling a players’ meeting, maybe they can cancel another planned concert outing. That seemed to get them back on track previously.
