Predators defeat Capitals in overtime

WASHINGTON-- Viktor Arvidsson scored 1:05 into overtime to give the Nashville Predators a 2-1 win against the Washington Capitals at Verizon Center on Thursday.
James Neal scored, and Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for Nashville (35-24-11), which has won three in a row. The Predators, third in the Central Division, were 3-9 in overtime this season.
"It's definitely nice to be coming on the winning side, especially against teams like this, top of the League," said Ryan Johansen, who had the primary assist on Arvidsson's goal. "We need these points right now, and it's good to see us finding ways."

WATCH: All Predators vs. Capitals highlights
Neal tied it 1-1 with 1:04 left in the second period. He used a wrist shot from the right circle to score his 21st.
"I thought we were pretty tight," Nashville coach Peter Laviolette said. "They still had a couple of chances, but Pekka was sharp in net tonight. I thought we were good defensively."

Brett Connolly scored, and Braden Holtby made 22 saves for Washington (45-17-8), which lost for the eighth time in 36 home games (28-6-2). The Capitals lead the NHL, Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division.
"We had a good start," Connolly said. "We've been talking about that, wanting to get off to good starts, and we did that. We just kind of let them hang around a little too much. We had some chances to score. We were good. We weren't bad, just not good enough tonight."
Connolly scored 11:41 into the first period to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead.

Goal of the game

Kevin Fiala's giveaway created a 2-on-0 for Connolly and Jakub Vrana, who passed to Connolly.

Save of the game

Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin stole the puck and raced toward the net in the second period, but Rinne made a pad save.

Highlight of the game

Neal took a quick shot past Dmitry Orlov and beat Holtby.

They said it

"As of late we've been playing a lot of high-scoring games, scoring a lot of goals and giving up a lot of goals. Going into the [Stanley Cup Playoffs], everybody knows you've got to be defensively extremely good and tonight we showed that we can play against one of the top teams in the League and be really solid defensively and don't give them a lot. I'm sure that gives us confidence moving forward." -- Predators goalie Pekka Rinne
"We didn't generate a whole lot in the first period. We thought they were a bit quicker than us in the first and we were able to find a gear halfway through the second, and for the rest of the game I thought we started to push the pace and control it a little bit better. But it was a pretty solid game once we got going." -- Predators coach Peter Laviolette
"I think we managed the puck pretty good. I think we had chances to skate and get in the zone and we did. We didn't try to over-pass it or anything. I think not that we did a terrible job of it, but I think we kind of got a little bit away from it later on in the game. That freed them up a little more than they should have been." -- Capitals defenseman John Carlson

Need to know

Rinne played his 500th NHL game. He is 265-152-61. … Predators forward Colin Wilson (lower body) did not play.

What's next

Predators: At the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m. ET; FS-TN, FS-CR, NHL.TV)
Capitals: At the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; CSN-DC, SUN, NHL.TV)