📸: kurly from #crashers
The Washington Capitals earned a long Olympic break with a respectable win over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. A badly needed win to kick off an even badlier needed break.
Tom Wilson settled a raucous puck in the high slot and sent it netward, screened by Aliaksei Protas. In his first game since the mid-80s, Pierre-Luc Dubois scored his first goal on the rush.
Jakob Chychrun earned his 20th goal of the season with a snazzy sequence that I won’t describe; I’ll just embed the video below. Jonathan Marchessault ended the shutout with a lucky bounce.
The third period was sick and twisted. Nic Dowd’s goal was nullified and then Michael McCarron scored – all within one minute of game clock time. Jakob Chychrun got his second of the night with a nail-in-the-coffin power-play goal.
Caps win!
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- It was a big night for JC6 because JC74 was out of commission. John Carlson left the game after the first period with a lower-body injury. If you’re gonna get hurt, do it right before you get 19 days off.
- Chychrun should really be going to Italy. I don’t see how you’d put Harley, Toews, or Doughty ahead of him – except for sentimental reasons. (I don’t see how he’s Canadian either, except for sentimental reasons. Boca Raton would never turn its back on you.)
- Goal no. 21 passed Zach Werenski, an Olympian for Chychrun’s True homeland, for most among defenders.
- Logan Thompson played for the first time since January 27, and I have not many complaints, but I think we need to set a rule that the Save of the Year can’t be when the boys on the breakaway shoot it into your glove.
- This game came in waves – with the Caps controlling play for a long stretch only to get caved in for a few consecutive shifts, which happened halfway through both the first and second periods. Dowd’s near-goal would have made a comeback unlikely, but getting it overturned and then scoring immediately after gave the Predators some pep in the third period.
- From the GDIT out-of-town scoreboard, our pal Fatou representing in Jersey:
- Ryan Leonard drew another penalty, his 27th. I pulled the numbers this morning. Only three rookie forwards in the last decade have drawn penalties at a higher rate than Leonard: Brendan Lemieux, Matthew Tkachuk, Brett Seney, Michael Bunting. That sure is a list of four players right there. Jonathan Marchessault in 2015-16 was only slightly behind Leonard’s pace.
- I don’t understand what you’re all complaining about with the Halo package at Capital One Arena. – – Actually, in a rare moment of discretion, I have decided to delete most of this bullet.
Good god it’s a quarter zipthe lad has LOST IThe’s a loose cannonsomeone STOP him#joebsuitofthenight
— RMNB (@rmnb.bsky.social) 2026-02-05T23:58:20.892Z
Alright, everyone needs to get in their ice baths and put on those suction cups and remove the lightbulbs from their homes and wrap their groins in bubble wrap and drink kale smoothies. We need everyone healthy and ready to pad Ovi’s stats on Wednesday, February 25.
Until then: Curling!
