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Washington Capitals: Top 3 players to watch against Predators

By Michael Marzzacco

NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 15: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on November 15, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - NOVEMBER 15: Nicklas Backstrom #19 of the Washington Capitals skates against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena on November 15, 2011 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /
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WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 08: Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Alex Ovechkin #8 after scoring a goal in the first period against the Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena on October 8, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 08: Evgeny Kuznetsov #92 of the Washington Capitals celebrates with Alex Ovechkin #8 after scoring a goal in the first period against the Dallas Stars at Capital One Arena on October 8, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /

#3 Evgeny Kuznetsov

Evgeny Kuznetsov is hungry for a bounce back season and hopes to raise his level of play to the form that we saw in the 2018 playoffs. Caps fans and the team themselves know his potential is there and after serving a three-game suspension, he scored in his first game back.

Kuznetsov opened the scoring the other night by using his speed to crash the net and backhand in a perfect cross-ice pass from Jonas Siegenthaler that might’ve been intentionally set up for Richard Panik. The goal came less than five minutes into the game.

Kuznetsov told Tarik El-Bashir of The Athletic (subscription required):

"“You know I never care about goals. I’d rather win and be happy tomorrow but that’s kind of nice, I’m not going to lie. It’s nice to score right away, especially for me never focusing on that and knowing I had to respond right away.”"

Kuznetsov doesn’t care about stats but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care about making an impact. Kuznetsov played well centering the third line next to Carl Hagelin and Panik that coach Todd Reirden switched places with Kuznetsov and Lars Eller. Eller is back on the third line while Kuznetsov moves up to the second line with Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie.

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