Capitals use shorthanded goal to end Predators win streak at seven

WASHINGTON-- The Nashville Predators had their seven-game winning streak end with a 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals at Capital One Arena on Wednesday.

Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a shorthanded goal at 14:24 of the third period to make it 4-3.
"I was behind the net. I wasn't sure [if] we were still 4-on-4 or shorthanded, so I kind of stepped out and looked for the pass," Kuznetsov said. "But I think [John Carlson] was kind of swinging there and he wasn't open, so I decided to shoot."
Carlson had a goal and three assists for the Capitals (19-6-7), who took a 3-0 first-period lead in their first game since Dec. 19. Ilya Samsonov made 17 saves.
"The first period went our way. ... They got some looks in the beginning of the second and they capitalized," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "I thought we did a good job getting our composure toward the second half of the second period and I thought we played a really smart and strong third period."

Juuse Saros made 32 saves for the Predators (19-11-1), who had not played since Dec. 17 and had not lost since Dec. 2.
"I think, ultimately, it was the first period that cost us the game," Nashville defenseman Mattias Ekholm said. "We came out too slow and let them dictate a little too much, took too many penalties. Ultimately, they had three goals. It's hard to come back from that three-goal deficit, so that needs to be corrected."
Nashville won eight straight games against Washington since a 4-1 loss on March 18, 2016.
Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin played 11:15 on the power play, and Washington was 0-for-6. The forward remained tied with Dave Andreychuk for the most power-play goals in NHL history (274).
Yakov Trenin jammed the rebound of Tanner Jeannot's shot through the five-hole to get Nashville within 3-1 at 1:23 of the second period.
"I really liked our response," Predators coach John Hynes said. "We came in (between periods) and talked about some things we needed up to tighten up. We talked about getting back and getting the first goal."

Nashville then scored twice in 35 seconds to tie it.
Eeli Tolvanen passed over sliding Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk to Luke Kunin, who tapped it in to make it 3-2 at 7:03. Filip Forsberg tied it 3-3 at 7:38 when he deflected Dante Fabbro's wrist shot from the point.
"I just think that we didn't come out with the same pace [in the second period]," Carlson said. "They're a good team. They work really, really hard, and I think when you maybe sit back just a little bit it makes a huge difference. I think we were getting caught in between a lot."
Lars Eller completed a passing sequence when he tipped in a feed across the crease from Carlson to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 3:15 of the first period.

Carlson made it 2-0 at 13:11 when he scored from the right circle on a wrist shot, and Nic Dowd tipped in a pass from Carl Hagelin on the rush to make it 3-0 at 18:52.
"I think sometimes coming off a break when you're playing against a talented team like that, you have to be a little bit tighter and not give them those types of looks that we gave them," Hynes said. "But I felt like we had energy. I thought we skated pretty well in the first."
Hagelin scored into an empty net at 18:57 of the third period for the 5-3 final.
NOTES: Laviolette got his 692nd NHL win to pass Dick Irvin for 10th in history. Laviolette is 55-20-12 in two seasons with Washington, and was 248-143-60 in six seasons with Nashville (2014-20). He is 692-445-135 with 25 ties with the Carolina Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Predators and Capitals. ... Forsberg has scored 16 points (eight goals, eight assists) in 12 games against the Capitals. ... Predators forward Matt Duchene was minus-1 with two blocked shots playing 18:22 in his return after missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Capitals forward Tom Wilson played 18:02 and had 19 penalty minutes in his return after missing four games with an upper-body injury. ... Capitals defenseman Alexander Alexeyev played 10:35 in his NHL debut. ... Capitals defenseman Michal Kempny, playing his first NHL regular-season game since March 9, 2020, had an assist on Dowd's goal.