THE RESULT:  Well, that was fun, eh?

For the first 40 minutes of Saturday night's game, the Washington Capitals flat-out stunk.  They took a ton of penalties, couldn't get out of their own end, were careless with the puck and generally outplayed by a hungrier team.

Fortunately for the Caps, Michal Neuvirth was again at the very top of his game and the penalty kill unit continued its dominance, keeping the Caps within striking distance, as they trailed 2-0 entering the third period. 

Believe me, it could have been much worse.

Washington (4-1-0-8) rallied though with a fierce comeback in the third period, and Brooks Laich redirected an Alex Ovechkin blast in overtime to steal two points from the Nashville Predators in a 3-2 win, before 16,144 at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Nashville (3-0-1-7) outshot Washington 30-20 after the first two periods, and the level of play wasn't even that close.

The Caps allowed a breakaway in the opening seconds of the game, then took a penalty at 24 seconds.  It was that kind of a night for the better part of two periods.  J.P. Dumont was allowed to walk in after a bad turnover and beat Neuvirth over his right shoulder for the first Predators goal near the end of the first.

And when a centering pass from Jordin Tootoo deflected off defenseman Brian Fahey's skate (activated because on Mike Green's lingering shoulder injury) and slipped behind Neuvirth mid-way through the second period, it looked for the world like this wouldn't be the Capitals night.

It would have been a waste of a simply masterful performance by their unflappable young netminder, Michal Neuvirth.  Neuvy was in position all night, and made several flashy glove saves to boot.  For the night, he stopped 37 of 39 shots, and calmly led this team while it found its way.

He is solidly cementing himself in the No. 1 goalie slot for the time being.

In the third period, the Capitals finally got it in gear, led by their offensive enigma, Alexander Semin.  He caught fire, controlling play in the Nashville end, as the Predator defenders all of the sudden looked tired.  Semin scored a power play goal at 4:33 -- his 150th of his career -- giving the Caps some much-needed energy.

"You could feel the tide turning," Washington coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You look up and you see that you're only down a goal or two goals, you've still got a chance. Every time we play these guys is like this. They're so fast. The fastest team, easily that we've seen."

The Semin goal gave the Caps the momentum, and Tomas Fleischmann banged home a bouncing puck to tie the game from the low slot after Brooks Laich did some nice dirty work behind the Nashville goal to pop the puck out into the slot.

In overtime, Ryan Suter took a tripping penalty trying to slow Alex Ovechkin down in the offensive zone, giving the Caps a 4-on-3 power play.  Smelling blood in the water, Boudreau sent out four forwards for the PP:  Ovechkin, Semin, Laich and Nicklas Backstrom. 

Backstrom took control of a loose puck along the dasher and hit Ovechkin in full stride at the blue line. Ovechkin's blast stayed low to the ice, where a crashing Brooks Laich got just enough of it to redirect it past rookie goalie Anders Lindback (31 saves) for the game winner.

So, much like Wednesday's win against the Islanders, this was another game where the Caps played poorly and unfocused for much of the affair but found enough in reserve to carry the day.  There's a lot of talk right about "not how, but how many," and that they don't give out style points for wins, but the Caps are darn lucky they won tonight.

You wonder if it's going to take losing one of these games to get the Captials to buy into playing for a full 60 minutes. 

THE GOOD:  The Caps killed off another six penalties, making them a perfect 21-for-21 on the PK this season.  They even went down 5-on-3 at one point and kept their record clean.  This kind of thing is infectious.

Also, we're five games in now, and Jeff Schultz has yet to be on the ice when an opposing goal was scored.

THE BAD:  Brian Fahey looked out of place, let his skate get into the wrong place defending in the slot, and was -2.  Get well soon, GreenLife52.

THE UGLY:  Fleischmann was 1-for-12 in the dot.  Hard to control the puck if you don't have it.

THE STATS:  Semin (2) from Carlson (5) and Backstrom (2) at 4:33 of 2nd.  Fleischmann (2) from Laich (2) at 12:14 of 2nd.  Laich (3) from Ovechkin and Backstrom (3) at 1:44 of OT (PP).

NEXT GAME:  Tuesday against Boston at 7:30 pm at Verizon Center.

CAPS NEWS NETWORK THREE STARS OF THE GAME:

3.  Alexander Semin.  Semin's strong play was the spark that got the Caps going in the third, and was rewarded with Caps first goal on the power play.

2.  Brooks Laich. Got the deflection on Ovechkin's bomb from the blue line for the game winner and did the hard work on Flash's garbage goal.

1.  Michal Neuvirth.  Kid was a stud, simple as that.  Could have been 5-0 at one point were it not for him.

Washington Capitals (3-1-0-6, 2nd SE) v. Nashville Predators (3-0-0-6, 1st CNT)

8:00 pm EST, Sommet Center, Nashville

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Despite all the hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth in the Nation's Capital about the ineffective power play, the Washington Capitals travel to Nashville with a 3-1 record, courtesy of three straight home wins last week after an opening night loss to Atlanta.  There, they will meet a rookie goalie that has led his upstart teammates to a perfect start to the 2010-2011 season.

The Predators are off to their best start since 2005-2006 when the Preds won their first eight games.  Much of the credit goes to Anders Lindback, a rookie goalie that has stopped 62-of-67 shots thus far, taking over for injured Pekka Rinne in the third period of the season opener.  Rinne is struggling with a back injury.

With the puck, Nashville isn't blessed with an array of talented goal scorers, but veteran Steve Sullivan has four goals in his first three contests.  The Preds are missing RW Martin Erat and centers Matthew Lombardi and Jamie Lundmark.

The Capitals lead the NHL in scoring through the first week of the season and have yet to allow a power play goal, though they are 2-for-17 on their own power play.

The Caps will be a very important man down tonight, as D Mike Green, who leads the team in minutes played, will miss with an "upper body injury", believed to be a strained shoulder.  Neither RW Matt Bradley nor D Tom Poti are ready to return either, and with the Caps two defensemen down they were forced to recall Brian Fahey from AHL Hershey.

Michal Neuvirth will make his fifth straight start in goal.  Semyon Varlamov was activated and will back up.  Dany Sabourin cleared waivers and was assigned to AHL Hershey.

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LEADERS: 

NSH:  Steve Sullivan (4-1-5, +2), Cal O'Reilly (0-4-4, +3), Anders Lindback (2-0-0, 2.19, .925)

WAS:  Alex Ovechkin (4-3-7, +3), John Carlson (1-4-5, even), Michal Neuvirth (3-1-0, 2.22, .924)

INJURIES: 

NSH:  G Pekke Rinne (Q-back), RW Martin Erat (Q-back), C Matthew Lombardi (Out-back), C Jamie Lundmark (Out-groin)

WAS:  D Mike Green (Out-shoulder), RW Matt Bradley (Out-LBI), D Tom Poti (Out-LBI)

THE RESULT:  The Washington Capitals went to 2-0 in their pre-season schedule, beating the Natsville Predators 2-1, before 15,218 at Bridgestone Arena.

Mike Green and Jay Beagle scored for the Caps, while Michael Neuvirth stopped 13-of-14 shots, and Dany Sabourin was perfect on 11 shots.

Nicklas Backstrom and Francois Bouchard assisted on Green's first period goal, and Keith Aucoin and Green helped on Beagle's marker.  Aucoin's feed to Beagle was particularly note-worthy, setting up the winger for a one-timer into an open net for the game-winner.

There were two fights in the game:  Steve Pinizzotto mixed it up with Kelsey Wilson and Grant McNeill tussled with tough guy Wade Belak.

Nashville outshot Washington 25-23.

THE GOOD:  The Caps killed all six minor penalties assessed.

THE BAD:  They took six minor penalties, including a poor holding penalty by Matt Hendricks with 41 seconds remaining in a one-goal game.

THE UGLY:  48 shots combined made for a slow pace,and I think we'll see a lot of teams borrow Montreal's strategy of packing it in and counter-punching against the Caps prolific attack this season.  The Laich-Johansson-Fehr line combined for two shots on goal.

NEXT GAME:  The Caps play their first home pre-season game Tuesday night at 7:00 pm against the Boston Bruins.

Washington, DC-- Alex Ovechkin did what he does best:  score goals.  He scored twice in regulation and again in the shootout to lead the Washington Capitals over the Nashville Predators 3-2.  Nashville has now lost five games in a row.

After the Great Eight beat Predator goalie Dan Ellis with a backhand deke, he calmly buried the puck into the twine.  Then, something amazing happened.

Hats rained down on the ice from the red-clad frenzied crowd.  They proclaimed a hat trick for a goal that would not count in Ovechkin's totals.

"I don't think it's ever been done in the history of hockey," coach Bruce Boudreau said after the game. "It's a Washington original."

Boudreau could joke a little in the post-game press conference after his young goaltender, Semyon Varlamov, blanked the Predators in the shootout.  But the game was no laughing matter.

Washington shot out to a 2-0 lead on the strength of Ovechkin's two first period goals.  But as is becoming routine, the Caps could not finish off a hard-working, but talent inferior Nashville team.

The Predators had several decent scoring chances in the first period, including two short-handed breakaway opportunities that Varlamov came up big on.  Had the young netminder given up one of the breakaways, we might have been talking about a completely different game.

In the second period, Shea Weber fired a laser from 40 feet past a defenseless Varlamov on a nice drop pass from Tomas Hornqvist at 14:29, and J.P. Dumont flicked a shot from the goal line that deflected off defenseman Brian Pothier and between Varlamov's legs just minutes later. 

Just like that, the game was tied.  Washington had fairly dominated the proceedings, yet found themselves scratching and clawing in the second half of the game.

Boudreau went to three lines in the third period, and it was the checking line of David Steckel, Matt Bradley and Quintin Laing that bore the brunt of keeping Nashville off the board.  "When we went down to three lines, we had to keep them [on the ice]," Boudreau said.  "They were the most dominant line on the ice."

Mike Knuble, who assisted on both of Ovechkin's goals, spoke about the problem this team is having putting games away.  "It could be a lot different feeling in here right now, if we had let this one slip.  When you get up 2-0 you can't them them hang around too long, that's when teams are dangerous."

"You gotta get that third one to finish them."

Boudreau echoed his veteran winger. 

"We talked between periods about having the killer instinct and burying them.  If we had gotten that next goal, we think at that time they might have said, 'Here we go again'."

Center Brendan Morrison joined the chorus.  "We had them 2-0 there, and they are a team that is mentally battling themselves right now," Morrison said. "I think if we get that third goal, the flood gates open. But we didn't and we let them back in it."

They did not get that third goal, unlike Thursday night against San Jose.  Instead, they let an over-matched, poor offensive team hang around and gain a point they had no business accepting, putting pressure on a goaltender whose confidence has been shaky due to two poor outings previously.

But Varlamov did his job in overtime and the shootout, and the Caps got just enough from the best player in the game to hand Nashville their fifth consecutive defeat, regardless of taking a point in the Capitals building. 

"We controlled the game in the first period and a half," Ovechkin said.

After Nashville got their two markers in the second, the team really bore down and kept the score even, narrowly averting disaster and claiming the second point in the shootout.

But it shouldn't have come to that.

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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
05:27 Power Play - Alex Ovechkin (8), Slap Shot. Assist: Green, Knuble
18:15 Alex Ovechkin (9), Wrist Shot. Assist: Morrison, Knuble

2ND PERIOD
14:29 Shea Weber (1), Slap Shot. Assist: Hornqvist, Goc
16:04 J.P. Dumont (1), Wrist Shot, Unassisted.

3RD PERIOD
None

OT
None

SHOOTOUT
Alex Ovechkin (1), GOAL
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THREE STARS

1. A. Ovechkin - WAS (Goals: 2, Assists: 0)
2. S. Weber - NSH (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
3. S. Varlamov - WAS (Saves: 22, Save Pct: .917)
________________________________________________________
NOTES

Shaone Morrison was scratched because of a lower body injury.  He was replaced by Tyler Sloan.

Boyd Gordon and John Erskine also missed the game with injuries.

Braden Holtby, recalled to back up Varlamov because of Jose Theodore's back spasms, was send back to South Carolina (ECHL) after the game.  The Caps are off until next Thursday at Atlanta and Theodore is expected back at that point.

Sergei Fedorov scored 2:20 into overtime to lift the Washington Capitals (41-21-6, first in Southeast, third in East) over the Nashville Predators (33-29-5-71, fourth in Central, T-7 in West) , before 16,064 at Sommet Arena.

Fedorov called the victory a "character win", but the Caps will take any type of win at this point, after losing their previous four games. Nashville has now lost two straight after winning their previous six games.

The win was punctuated by several big fights, with the Caps mainly on the losing end. Donald Brashear was knocked down by Wade Belak in the first period and did not return to the game. According to Capitals Insider, Brashear sprained his knee in the fight.

Matt Bradley then dropped with Jordin Tootoo and suffered a head butt to his nose, opening a gash that required several stitches, and a change of jerseys. Bradley returned to the game after getting stitched up. John Erskine mixed it up with Belak in the second period and managed to hold his own. The defenseman has been discouraged from fighting due to multiple concussions in the past.

As for actual hockey, the Preds got off quickly, scoring 50 seconds into the game. Ryan Suter put a long distance wrist shot through traffic and past a screened Jose Theodore low to the stick side.

Niklas Backstrom tied it with 1:21 remaining in the second period. Viktor Kozlov carried the puck into the offensive zone, went cross-ice to Alex Ovechkin, and Ovie found Backstrom slipping behind the defense. Backstrom caught the pass on the backhand, skated across the front of the crease, and lifted it over a committed Dan Ellis to tie things up.


Video courtesy of Caps365 at http://capitals.nhl.tv

The goalies took over from there, as Ellis--filling in for an ill Pekka Rinne--made several highlight saves in the third period. Eliis would finish with 39 saves on the night. Theodore was efficient in registering 26 saves against the Predators.

Washington had 17 shots on goal in the final frame, but went 0-for-3 on the power play and could not beat Ellis. The veteran backup made three excellent saves against Ovechkin in the third period, who may be suffering from the lingering effects of the bruised heel he suffered at practice last week.

The Capitals next face the Philadelphia Flyers, Thursday night at 7:00 PM from the Wachovia Center. The Flyers defeated Buffalo last night 5-2, as Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell had two goals apiece.
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SCORESHEET

1ST PERIOD
50.0 Ryan Suter (6), Wrist Shot. Assist: Weber, Erat

2ND PERIOD
18:39 Nicklas Backstrom (18), Slap Shot. Assist: Ovechkin, Kozlov

3RD PERIOD
None

OT
02:20 Sergei Fedorov (8), Slap Shot. Assist: Kozlov, Semin
__________________________________________________
THREE STARS

1. D. Ellis - NSH (Saves: 42, Save Pct: .955)
2. S. Fedorov - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
3. N. Backstrom - WAS (Goals: 1, Assists: 0)
__________________________________________________
NOTES

Alexander Semin extended his point streak to seven games with his assist on Fedorov's game-winner. It is one game shy of his career best streak. The Caps had a goal waived off after a video review determined that Tomas Fleischmann directed the puck into the net with his skate. Ovechkin has five goals and five assists in his last eight games. The Caps have won five straight on the road, improving to 11-3-2 in their last 16 games away from Verizon Center.

The Washington Capitals (40-21-6-86, first in Southeast, third in East) travel to the central time zone to face the Nashville Predators (33-29-4-70, fourth in Central, T-8 in West) at 8:00 p.m. EST from the Sommet Center.

The Caps enter tonight's contest losers of four straight games, all at home, to teams well beneath them in the standings. Washington finds themselves trailing New Jersey for second place in the Eastern Conference by one point. The Devils host Calgary tonight.

Despite the recent slump, the Caps still hold a 10-point lead over Florida in the Southeast Conference.

Washington plays 10 of their final 15 games away from DC and will have to play road warriors if they wish to line up the second seed in the East. The Caps are 8-2-2 in their last 12 road games, and they won't have to travel out of the Eastern time zone for any more games.

Nashville is fighting for their playoff lives, not for seeding. They sit in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot in the West with Edmonton and Dallas, all with 70 points. But the 10-13 teams are all within four points as well. Every game in the Western Conference has playoff implications.

The Predators are doing their part, having won six straight games at home and are 6-3-1 in their last ten games. And if the Capitals hope to win tonight, they better jump on top quickly, as Nashville has yet to lose a game in which they lead after the first period (15-0-1).

The Caps won the teams' previous meeting this season, a 4-3 shootout win on Oct. 28. It was one of the two games Alex Ovechkin missed this season to be with his ailing grandfather. Alexander Semin and Michael Nylander had shootout goals to lead the Caps that night.

Nashville is lead by goaltender Pekka Rinne. Rinne, 26, is enjoying a fabulous rookie campaign. In 38 games he has produced a 2.27 goals against average and .921 save percentage, with a record of 22-11-1. He is 11-3-1 since Feb. 1, but has given up 11 goals in his last three games, perhaps hitting a wall late in his rookie season.

Up front, the Preds depend on veterans J.P. Dumont (12-39-51, plus-5), Jason Arnott (27-22-49, plus-3) and Martin Erat (16-25-41. minus-10). Defenseman Shea Weber (17-23-40, plus-8) is one of the highest scoring blue-liners in the game, and a force on the power play.

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SPECIAL TEAMS

WAS: PP-2nd (24.4%, 68/279); PK-23rd (79.6%, 67/328)
NSH: PP-28th (14.1%, 37/262); PK-4th (84.3%, 45/287)
_________________________________________________
INJURIES

WAS: G Brent Johnson (Hip-IR); RW Chris Clark (Wrist-IR); C Michael Nylander (Upper Body-Questionable)
NSH: C Radek Bonk (Upper Body-Out); C Scott Nichol (Concussion-IR)

Washington -- The Washington Capitals defeated the visiting Nashville Predators in a shoot out, 4-3, missing their MVP and leader Alex Ovechkin, who was en route to Russia to be with his ailing grandfather.

The Caps took a 3-2 lead against Nashville less than two minutes into the third period, on a power play goal by their new scoring leader Alexander Semin. It was Semin's eighth goal of the season. They then surrendered the tying goal with less than seven minutes to play, but held on to the tie despite being outshot (15-3) and outplayed in the third period to force overtime. Overtime was uneventful, and the Caps went to their second shootout of the season.

But even the shootout went to overtime, as three shots apiece found the teams still tied. Semin and Ville Koistinen each tallied on their shootout attempt, and the teams were forced to send out extra skaters. But Michael Nylander beat goalie Dan Ellis with a nifty backhand and Jose Theodore denied Martin Erat to secure the victory.

The Caps opened the scoring with a goal from Viktor Kozlov, his first of the season, and got a short-handed marker from David Steckel, who finished a breakaway on a feed by Semin. Nashville got two goals ferom Jason Arnott and one from Koistinen.

Washington was jumping in the first period, outshooting Nashville 19-4 in the frame. But as well played as the first period was, it was equally as bad in the third, as the Caps allowed 15 shots and the game tying goal to Arnott. The Caps also took three consecutive penalties in the third, making their jobs considerably more difficult. They were beaten to pucks, stopped skating on defense, and generally were outworked in the last period, something that as to stick in the craw of coach Bruce Boudreau.

But his team secured the victory regardless, even without its marquee player. Ovechkin's timetable for return remains uncertain. The Caps, however, are off until Saturday when they face Buffalo in upstate New York.

Jose Theodore was the winning goalie (4-2-0, 3.20, .886). He stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced, including 14 of 15 in the third period.

Photos (c) Cheryl Nichols 2008.
___________________________________________________
SCORESHEET

WAS: Kozlov (1) from Green (1-12:13); Steckel (2) from Semin (1-15:38-SH); Semin (8) from Backstrom and Federov (3-1:58-PP); SO: Semin; Nylander

NSH: Koistinen (1) from Dumont and Erat (1-13:59-PP); Arnott (4) from Dumont and Hornqvist (2-11:21); Arnott (5) from Suter and Dumont (3-13:24); SO: Koistinen
___________________________________________________
THE GOOD, BAD & UGLY

GOOD: David Steckel. He played his most complete game of the season last night. Was +1 with short-handed goal. Recorded three hits. Was third in short-handed ice time behind Schultz and Semin. Voted #3 star by attending media.

BAD: Penalties in the third period. Brooks Laich and Nylander each got hooking calls and Shaone Morrisonn took an interference at 15:51. The stripes seemed a little uneven anyway last night, but to give them a reason to blow thier whistles in the third period makes everyone's job tougher.

UGLY: Nashville's shooting. Through the first two periods, the Predators had missed as many shots (11) as it had put on goal.
___________________________________________________
NEXT GAME: Saturday, November 1 against the Buffalo Sabres from HSBC Arena at 7:00 pm

RECORD: 5-3-1, 11 points, first place in Southeast Division. Two-game winning streak

NOTES: The team honored Sergei Federov and Tyler Sloan with video messages on their accomplishments while on the three-game road trip. Federov became the all-time leading scorer among Russian-bron players, and Sloan scored his frist NHL goal.

Ovechkin's streak of 203 consecutive games played was broken.

Semin's power play goal was his first of the season. His previous seven goals were all even strength. Semin currently leads the NHL in scoring with 19 points, one ahead of Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin.

The Washington Capitals (4-3-1) return from their three-game western swing to face the Nashville Predators (4-4-0) at 7:00 pm from the Verizon Center.

The Caps got an overtime goal from leading scorer Alexander Semin to salvage a win on the road trip in Dallas, 6-5. It was an unusually high-scoring affair with the Stars, normally one of the stingier teams in the league. Sergei Federov and Tomas Fleischmann scored twice each, and Tyler Sloan got his first NHL goal in his third career game.

Federov became the leading Russian-born goal scorer in the NHL, passing Alexander Mogilny for most goals. He had previously set the mark for assists and points.

Washington enters this contest without one of its most important players, Alex Ovechkin. Ovechkin left the team Monday to travel to Russia to be with his ailing grandfather. GM George McPhee said Ovechkin will probably miss Saturday's contest as well, but set no official time timetable for last year's Hart Trophy winner. Brooks Laich will move up to the first line with Nicklas Backstrom and Viktor Kozlov.

Goalie Brent Johnson (1-1-1, 2.71, .885) gets the start in net against the Predators.

Coach Barry Trotz' Nashville team comes into this game fairly well rested, having played just twice in the last nine games. They defeated the L.A. Kings 5-4 Saturday night and dropped a 5-3 decision to Calgary Thursday. Both contests were in Nashville.

The Predators are led up front by C Jason Arnott, RW Martin Erat and RW J.P. Dumont. Blue liners of note are Shea Weber, who is tied with Dumont with 9 points to pace the Preds, and Ryan Suter.

Dan Ellis is Nashville's primary goalie, having started seven of their eight games. His record is 4-4-0 with a 3.35 GAA and .867 S%.
__________________________________________________
SPECIAL TEAMS

WAS: PP-16th (17.5%, 7/40); PK-20th (77.8%, 10/45)

NSH: PP-17th (17.1%, 7/41); PK-26th (75.6%, 10/41)
__________________________________________________
WHO'S HOT

WAS: LW Alexander Semin (7-7-14, +6); C Michael Nylander (2-6-8, +3); C/D Sergei Federov (3-4-7, +7)

NSH: RW J.P. Dumont (2-7-9, -1); D Shea Weber (3-6-9, +3); C Jason Arnott (3-4-7, -2)

WHO'S NOT

WAS: RW Chris Clark (0-1-1, even); C Nicklas Backstrom (0-3-3, +1); LW Dave Steckel (1-1-2, -2)

NSH: C Vernon Fiddler (0-0-0, -3); D Dan Hamhuis (0-2-2, -5); C Radek Bonk (1-1-2, -1)
_________________________________________________
INJURIES

WAS: D Tom Poti (groin-DTD); D Brian Pothier (concussion-OUT); LW Alex Ovechkin (personal-OUT)

NSH: LW Martin Gelinas (knee-DTD); RW Steve Sullivan (back-doubtful); RW Jed Ortmeyer (knee-OUT)