A bad loss to the Philadelphia Flyers put the Washington Capitals behind the 8-ball again in their race to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Now they return home to face the Nashville Predators for their last game before the Olympic break \u2014 and they are getting some important reinforcements back.<\/p>\n
Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> will play for the first time since October<\/a> after core surgery. Logan Thompson<\/a> is also back after missing the last four due to an upper-body injury<\/a>. He\u2019ll start in goal and oppose the Predators\u2019 Justus Annunen on the other side.<\/p>\n Puck drop for today\u2019s game is scheduled for a little after 7:00 pm. Today\u2019s game is on Monumental Sports Network. Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin have the call.<\/p>\n Lines Beauvillier<\/p>\n Sourdif<\/p>\n Leonard<\/p>\n Nashville Predators<\/p>\n Stamkos<\/p>\n O’Reilly<\/p>\n Evangelista<\/p>\n Forsberg<\/p>\n Haula<\/p>\n Marchessault<\/p>\n Tunnel shenanigans<\/p>\n 1st Period<\/p>\n Tom Wilson, Logan Thompson, and Martin Fehervary are getting an Olympic sendoff and being honored before puck drop.<\/p>\n Puck is dropped. Duhaime-Dowd-Lapierre and Sandin-TVR get the start.<\/p>\n Birthday boy Ethen Frank shoots from the doorstep but his shot hits the outside of the net.<\/p>\n Tom Wilson beats Justus Annunen from the top of the circles for his 23rd goal of the season.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n 1-0 Washington Capitals<\/p>\n Goal: Tom Wilson (23). Assists: P. Dubois (1), J. Chychrun (25). Time: 4:15<\/p>\n Justin Barron rings one off the post.<\/p>\n Predators are taking it to the Capitals.<\/p>\n Ozzy Wiesblatt to the box at 10:54 for tripping TVR. Wiesblatt fell over in the offensive zone by himself and took out TVR with him.<\/p>\n Capitals nearly give up a shorthanded goal to the Predators. <\/p>\n It\u2019s quiet in Capital One Arena.<\/p>\n Capitals are doing nothing on the power play.<\/p>\n Broken play\u2026 Strome sends a backpass to Dubois and he rings one off the crossbar and in. Caps needed that. No energy.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n 2-0 Washington Capitals<\/p>\n PPG: Pierre-Luc Dubois (1). Assists: D. Strome (30), J. Carlson (36). Time: 12:48<\/p>\n Pierre-Luc Dubois scores first goal of season in first game back from extended injury absence<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n Alex Ovechkin to the box for interfering Michael McCarron at 15:35.<\/p>\n Preds have nothing going here.<\/p>\n Alex Ovechkin gets hauled down by Brady Skjei coming out of the penalty box. That\u2019s two minutes for tripping. Now the Caps are going back to the power play.<\/p>\n At intermission: The Caps look bad, but they\u2019re winning 2-0. Shots are tied 11-11.<\/p>\n 2nd Period<\/p>\n Puck is dropped.<\/p>\n Ryan Leonard cross-checks Ozzy Wiesblatt at 2:52. <\/p>\n Both teams are now going to 4-on-4 for 1:09 after Jonathan Marchessault slashes Nic Dowd at 3:39.<\/p>\n The Predators have a clear 2-on-0 coming out of the box somehow. Thompson stretches out and robs Marchessault at the far post. He got his glove on it somehow.<\/p>\n Jakob Chychrun does a spin-a-rama at neutral, gains entry into the offensive zone, and rips a huge shot past Justus Annunen for his 20th goal of the season. WOW.<\/p>\n \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n 3-0 Washington Capitals<\/p>\n Goal: Jakob Chychrun (20). Unassisted. Time: 8:42<\/p>\n Uh oh. John Carlson is out for the rest of the game due to a lower-body injury. Chychrun is jumping over the boards every other shift.<\/p>\n
\nWashington Capitals<\/p>\n