Jakub Vrana sticks his tongue out a lot during warm-ups. (Caps Outsider)
With the exception of periods 2 and 3 on Monday, the Capitals have been playing very well lately. Even in their loss previous to the 6-3 beating by Nashville, the Caps only fell 2-1 to Pittsburgh during a 9-1 stretch of games.
Playing without defenders Matt Niskanen and Christian Djoos (though Brooks Orpik re-entered the lineup after missing a significant amount of time) and facing a very good Predators team, it was only a matter of time before the puck didn’t bounce their way. Though the Caps took an early 2-0 lead, then a 3-1 lead in the second period, Washington surrendered five consecutive goals.
The highlight of the game for the Caps was Braden Holtby’s pass to the far blue line which led to a Chandler Stephenson goal. Other positives: Michal Kempny scored his fourth of the season, and John Carlson had a pretty assist to Jakub Vrana, who put up his 12th goal, one fewer than he had all of last season.
Shots: 25 for Washington, 34 for Nashville.
One other negative: Alex Ovechkin hasn’t scored in six games, after scoring 10 goals in six games before that.
The Caps will shake this one off as they head into 2019. They next face St. Louis on Thursday at 8 p.m.
