The Nashville Predators’ early-season struggles continued Wednesday night in Washington, falling 3-2 to the Capitals despite an encouraging start and strong performances from their youth.
Juuso Pärssinen opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, assisted by young talents Luke Evangelista and Philip Tomasino. After Washington’s Connor McMichael equalized, the teams traded second-period goals, with Steven Stamkos scoring for Nashville just 31 seconds after the Capitals had taken the lead.
Alex Ovechkin’s third-period goal proved to be the difference-maker, despite a solid 33-save performance from Predators goaltender Juuse Saros. Discipline was a key factor, as Nashville took seven penalties to Washington’s two, though neither team converted on their power play opportunities.
The loss drops the Predators to 4-8-1 on the season, though bright spots emerged in the play of their younger skaters and Stamkos’s continued productivity. Roman Josi led all players with 25:14 of ice time as Nashville matched the Capitals’ physical play with 34 hits.
Source: Predators
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