NHL

Washington Capitals at Nashville Predators

· National Hockey League
Final
4 - 1

Ovechkin scores 873rd career goal, Frank gets 1st as Capitals beat Predators 4-1

Alex Ovechkin scores his 873rd career goal on empty net

Tom Wilson and Andrew Mangiapane also scored for the Capitals. Logan Thompson stopped 32 shots as the Capitals won for the second time in three games.

Filip Forsberg scored and Juuse Saros made 12 saves for the Predators, who have lost two straight.

One day after getting an assist in his NHL debut, Frank gathered a stretch pass from Matt Roy at the Nashville blue line and drove down the right side before beating Saros with a wrist shot from the lower part of the right faceoff circle at 8:30 of the third period to put the Capitals up 2-1.

Mangiapane made it 3-1 with 5:06 remaining, and Ovechkin scored career goal No. 873 with an empty-netter with 58 seconds left after blocking a shot and going the length of the ice. Ovechkin is 21 goals shy of tying Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record.

Wilson scored the game’s first goal at 9:03 of the second period.

Forsberg tied it with 3:46 remaining in the second. After going 18 games without scoring, Forsberg has goals in consecutive games.

Takeaways Capitals: Washington extended its point streak to seven games (4-0-3).

Predators: Nashville allowed a season-low 16 shots on goal, with Washington beating Saros three times on 15 shots.

Key moment Less than a minute after Wilson gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead, Thompson made a sweeping glove save on Jonathan Marchessault from the left side on a 2-on-1 rush by the Predators for his best save of the game.

Key stat Wilson’s power-play goal was his team-leading ninth man-advantage goal of the season. Strome’s assist was histeam-high 19th power-play point.

Up next Capitals host Anaheim on Tuesday, and Predators host Vegas.

Regular Season Series

WSH wins series 2-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 9:03 Tom Wilson Goal (19) Wrist Shot, assists: Dylan Strome (34), Alex Ovechkin (12)
Goal 2nd Period 16:14 Filip Forsberg Goal (11) Wrist Shot, assists: Jonathan Marchessault (17), Roman Josi (20)
Goal 3rd Period 8:30 Ethen Frank Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Matt Roy (9), Martin Fehervary (10)
Goal 3rd Period 14:54 Andrew Mangiapane Goal (10) Backhand, assists: Brandon Duhaime (6), John Carlson (24)
Goal 3rd Period 19:01 Alex Ovechkin Goal (20) Snap Shot, assists: none

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/wsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originWSH https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nsh.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNSH
27 Blocked Shots 15
12 Hits 18
3 Takeaways 2
16 Shots 33
1 Power Play Goals 1
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
50.0 Power Play Percentage 33.3
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
25 Faceoffs Won 26
49.0 Faceoff Win Percent 51.0
13 Giveaways 12
3 Total Penalties 2
6 Penalty Minutes 4
Nashville Predators Nashville Predators Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Washington Capitals Washington Capitals Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Sonny Milano, LW Out Feb 5
Charlie Lindgren, G Injured Reserve Jan 31
Connor McMichael, C Injured Reserve Jan 31
Eriks Mateiko, LW Out Jan 13

Game Information

Bridgestone Arena

Location: Nashville, TN
Attendance: 17,159 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 35 15 76 6
Pittsburgh 28 15 68 12
NY Islanders 31 21 67 5
Columbus 29 20 65 7
Washington 28 23 63 7
Philadelphia 25 20 60 10
New Jersey 28 26 58 2
NY Rangers 22 28 50 6

2025-26 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Colorado 37 9 83 9
Minnesota 34 14 78 10
Dallas 34 14 77 9
Utah 30 23 64 4
Nashville 26 23 59 7
Chicago 22 26 53 9
Winnipeg 22 26 52 8
St. Louis 20 28 49 9
Full Standings