Charlie Lindgren made 25 saves for his third straight win.
Cole Hutson Scores Twice and Alex Tuch Nets the Winner
Filip Forsberg opened the scoring with 7:12 left in the first period, pounding a left dot one-timer to the twine after a tee-up feed from Ryan O’Reilly during a 5-on-3 power play. Across the three-plus seasons Spencer Carbery has coached behind Washington’s bench, the Caps have surrendered only two 5-on-3 power-play goals—the fewest across the league—with both occurring at Bridgestone Arena during calendar 2026. Hutson tied it with 3:47 left in the first with a sharp angle shot from near the goal line on the right side.
It took a lot of luck.
Cole Hutson, Washington Capitals defenseman
Boone Jenner gave Washington a 2-1 lead at 4:15 of the second. At the 9:09 mark of the middle frame, Forsberg struck again by side-stepping a poke check from Lindgren and tucking the puck just inside the right post, securing his second goal of the night and his 11th in 22 career appearances against the Washington Capitals. It was Forsberg’s first multi-goal game of the season. With 6:14 remaining in the second period, Hutson netted his second goal of the contest, skating through the slot and beating Juuse Saros with a stick-side wrist shot to claim the first two-goal performance of his professional career.
Nashville’s Defensive Struggles and Third-Period Benchings
Ross Colton brought Nashville even at 3-3 with 6:34 elapsed in the third period, but Tuch answered with the game-winner with 9:51 left on the clock, firing a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot for his 10th goal of the season and his fifth in a three-game span. With his goal Alex Tuch becomes the fifth player to hit double digits in goals this season. Despite receiving 29 stops from Juuse Saros, generating a pair of even-strength goals, and getting Filip Forsberg’s first multi-goal performance of the year, Nashville (4-4-5) fell 4-3 to the Washington Capitals (8-4-0).
The top six guys were going to play.
Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators Head Coach
As the opening month draws to a close, the Nashville Predators hold 13 points through 13 games, leaving them deadlocked for the Western Conference’s final Wild Card position. At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, Nicolas Hague is imposing on the blue line, but his speed has always been a question. Acquisition of the 27-year-old Hague occurred on June 29, 2025, via a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights, immediately followed by the signing of a four-year, $22 million contract extension. Sent to the Golden Knights in the transaction that brought a 2027 third-round draft choice to the Predators were Colton Sissons and Jeremy Lauzon.
Milestones and Upcoming Matchups at Bridgestone Arena
Aliaksei Protas and Jack St. Ivany each had two assists. Unsurprisingly, the line with Boone Jenner, Justin Sourdif, and Ryan Leonard was the best. O’Reilly extended his points streak to four games, holding three goals and four assists over that span.
Barry Trotz was inducted into the Predators’ Golden Hall of Fame. During Poile’s time as Washington’s general manager, both Theberge and Andersson suited up for the Caps, while Poile also personally drafted Tatarinov in the 11th round of 1984 and Klee in the ninth round of 1990. He follows Greg Theberge, Peter Andersson, Mikhail Tatarinov and Ken Klee in achieving that feat. He joins some pretty good company: Francois Beauchemin, Johnny Boychuk, Zdeno Chara and Eric Weinrich.
Capitals: Host Minnesota on Sunday. Predators: Host Tampa Bay on Saturday.
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