NASHVILLE - A celebratory night turned bittersweet for the Predators. Nashville (4-4-5), on an evening the organization celebrated Barry Trotz by inducting him into the Golden Hall, took an early lead but couldn't hold on as the Washington Capitals (8-4-0) spoiled the party with a 4-3 victory.
"I thought we had a really good start in the first period," Roman Josi said. "Felt like we put a lot of pressure on them and kind of lost it there in the second a little bit at times. Had some good couple minutes in the second but I thought our third was pretty good, we've just got to find the win. I think it was a winnable game and we've got to find a way to win those games."
Nashville emphasized starting faster after falling behind 3-0 in their last game. The Predators did so by generating a few chances on the rush and controlling the puck in Washington's defensive zone to open the game. That control let the home side settle into the game instead of chasing from the start.
The Predators got on the power play at 10:57 when Timothy Liljegren hooked Jack Drury. The advantage increased to a five-on-three when Martin Fehervry high-sticked Steven Stamkos on the next faceoff. Nashville spent nearly the entire two minutes working the puck around the zone, but Josi passed to Ryan O'Reilly, who found Filip Forsberg on the left wing for a one-timer, giving the Predators a 1-0 lead at 12:58.
The goal woke the Capitals up, and Washington got on the forecheck. Nashville defenseman Nick Hague couldn't clear the zone, and Washington center Pierre-Luc Dubois worked the puck to Jack St. Ivany across the top of the blue line. St. Ivany kicked it down to an uncovered Cole Hutson at the bottom of the circle, and Hutson fired past Juuse Saros for the equalizer at 16:13.
Nashville outshot the Capitals 11-7 and won 76 percent of the opening-period faceoffs, but the teams went into the first intermission tied 1-1 after one defensive miscue.
The Capitals jumped ahead at the conclusion of their first power play of the night. Nils Hglander's slashing penalty gave Washington a man advantage at 2:11 in the period, but the Predators' penalty kill kept Washington off the board. Fehervary fired a shot tight after Hglander was released from the box. Saros stopped the initial shot, but Boone Jenner flicked the rebound into the net, giving the Caps a 2-1 lead.
Hglander made up for his mistake by getting active on the forecheck. His efforts in Washington's end poked the puck free to Josi, who found Forsberg wide open in front of Lindgren. Forsberg deked Lindgren and smoothly flipped the puck into the net for his second goal of the night, tying the game 2-2 at 9:09.
The Capitals relaimed the lead as Hutson scored his second of the night. St. Ivany flipped the puck to Aliaksei Protas near the wall and Hutson streaked down the slot. Jack Drury slipped, clearing things for Hutson to walk the puck down the slot and fire past Saros, giving Washington a 3-2 lead at 13:46.
The Capitals' second-period push saw the visitors take a 20-16 shot-on-goal lead, as they clung to a one-goal lead at the second intermission.
Nashville got on the power play in the first minute of the third period when Jakob Chychrun was called for interference. The Predators mustered a few shots, but couldn't equalize.
Where the power play unit failed, the Predators fourth line picked them up. Josi fired a shot from the blue line and Adam Edstrm followed up with a rebound. Lindgren blocked the first two, but couldn't stop Ross Colton's third shot as Colton crashed the net hard, tying things at 3-3 at 6:34.
Unfortunately, the Predators couldn't get over the hump as Jordan Kyrou took a Chychrun rebound and found Alex Tuch all alone at the dot. Tuch turned and fired the puck into the near side top shelf, putting the Capitals back in front 4-3 at 10:09.
"I guess they capitalized on that last goal, and I thought our second period, we didn't play well for a lot of stretches in that period, but like I said, I thought the game was there for us to win," Josi said. "We just didn't find a way. These are important games, important points. We've just got to find a way."
Nashville pushed and pushed through the final 10 minutes, even pulling Saros from the net for an extra skater at 17:53. But the Predators' offense ran out of gas, and they lost their second consecutive home game.
The Predators return to action on Halloween for a Saturday afternoon matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nhl/predators/onsi as Nashville Gets Better Start, But Drops Second Straight Home Game .
