Capitals down Predators for Peter Laviolette’s 700th win

The Washington Capitals and Nashville Predators were tied at one early in the third period. It gave the Caps a bit of a scare after the home team knotted it up before the visitors went on to score three unanswered goals. It was a 4-1 win as Peter Laviolette celebrated his homecoming to Nashville by winning the 700th NHL game of his career.

At 4:17 of the opening period, the Herndon, VA native did it again. Dmitry Orlov worked the puck to Conor Sheary before he found Joe Snively with a slam dunk in front of the net for his third goal of the season. 1-0 was the score after one with the Predators leading in shots 15-10.

The second period was scoreless as the Caps led in shots 10-8. In the third the Predators tied it at 2:43 on a goal from Michael McCarron. At 3:27 the Caps took the lead for good in a tic tac toe sequence. The puck swung from Carl Hagelin, to Garnet Hathaway before he set up Nick Jensen for his fourth goal of the season.

The Caps power play has had their share of woes all season long. But they did score a rare power play goal from someone who wouldn’t surprise you. Yup it was Alex Ovechkin right from his office assisted by John Carlson and Tom Wilson for his 30th goal of the season at 4:33. Ovechkin would add an empty net goal at 18:37 to seal the win.

The Predators led in shots 11-8 in the third and 34-28 overall but Ilya Samsonov stood tall as he made 33 saves. The Caps lost defenseman Justin Schultz after the first period due to an upper body injury.

Laviolette was pleased, not at his milestone but with his player’s performance. He’s the 10th coach in NHL history to reach 700 wins:

"“For me, the win was really good for our team. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster, and you leave the Ottawa game [a 4-1 loss on Sunday] and you don’t feel good about it. You lose a game at home and you want to get back and win a hockey game. And so it ends up being Nashville, and that’s just the way it was dealt out. But it was a good win for our team.”"

Laviolette spent five seasons behind the bench in Nashville and helped guide them to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. The Caps look to continue their road momentum on Thursday night at the Philadelphia Flyers.