Capitals head to Nashville for first meeting with Predators Thursday night
The Washington Capitals take a four-game-in-five stretch of home success on the road Thursday, visiting the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. Puck drop is set for 8:00 p.m. ET, with the game available on ESPN+, MNMT and Scripps Sports.
It is the first meeting between the two teams this season.
Capitals riding a home stretch
Washington enters at 7-4-0 with 14 points, and the Capitals are coming off a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday, Oct. 28, which makes Thursday the second half of a back-to-back.
Each of the Capitals' last five games has come at home, and they have won four of them: 5-4 over Montreal on Oct. 14, 4-2 over New Jersey on Oct. 17, 4-3 in overtime over Buffalo on Oct. 24 and the win over Philadelphia. The lone loss in that span was a 5-2 defeat to the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 20.
The road has been a different story so far. Washington is 1-2-0 away from home this season.
Alex Tuch leads the Capitals with nine goals. Dylan Strome tops the team with nine assists and 12 points.
Washington sits fourth in the Metropolitan Division with 14 points, behind Carolina (22), New Jersey (16) and the NY Rangers (15), and level on points with the NY Islanders.
Predators coming off a loss
Nashville is 4-3-5 with 13 points and has been up and down over its last five. The Predators beat St. Louis 5-2 at home on Oct. 17, were shut out 6-0 in Boston on Oct. 22 and lost 3-2 in overtime at Pittsburgh on Oct. 24. They bounced back with a 6-2 home win over Colorado on Oct. 25 before falling 4-3 to the Islanders at home on Tuesday, Oct. 27.
At Bridgestone Arena, Nashville is 3-2-2 this season.
Steven Stamkos leads the Predators with seven goals and 15 points, and Roman Josi has a team-high 11 assists. Nashville sits fifth in the Central Division, two points behind Dallas and Colorado.
Injuries
The Capitals have three players on injured reserve: Vincent Desharnais (abdomen), Rasmus Sandin (knee) and Patrick Thomas (upper body).