NHL: Washington Capitals at Nashville Predators
Credit: Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

The Washington Capitals (26-23-7) return home for their final game before the Olympic break. They will host the Nashville Predators (28-23-7) at Capital One Arena on Thursday night.

The puck drops at 7:00 p.m. ET.

After Thursday’s game, the NHL will go on a three-week hiatus to accommodate the League’s participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Capitals will return to action on Feb. 25 when they host Philadelphia in the first of a two-game homestand.

The Capitals are back at home after suffering a 4-2 loss to the Flyers in Philadelphia on Tuesday. After trailing 2-0 in the middle frame, Aliaksei Protas scored a shorthanded goal and Anthony Beauvillier tied it up at 2-2.

However, a late penalty proved costly as Justin Sourdif was sent to the box for hooking. This immediately led to Jamie Drysdale scoring a power-play goal to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead. A late empty-netter from the Flyers sealed it.

Now, the Capitals will look to earn points right before the break in their final meeting with Nashville this season. These two teams previously met on Jan. 11, where the Predators prevailed 3-2 at home.

Nashville got off to a slow start to the season, but have crawled from last place to 10th in the Western Conference. After starting 6-12-4, the Predators have gone an impressive 20-11-3 since.

Nashville will finish off a set of back-to-back games against the Capitals on Thursday. They will be coming off a 6-5 OT home loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

Expected Capitals Lines

Forwards

Alex Ovechkin – Dylan Strome – Anthony Beauvillier

Aliaksei Protas – Justin Sourdif – Tom Wilson

Ryan Leonard – Nic Dowd – Ethen Frank

Brandon Duhaime – Hendrix Lapierre – Sonny Milano

Defensemen

Martin Fehervary – John Carlson

Jakob Chychrun – Matt Roy

Rasmus Sandin – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Goalies

Garin Bjorklund

Clay Stevenson

Expected Predators Lines

Forwards

Steven Stamkos – Ryan O’Reilly – Luke Evangelista

Filip Forsberg – Erik Haula – Jonathan Marchessault

Cole Smith – Michael McCarron – Michael Bunting

Reid Schaefer – Tyson Jost – Matthew Wood

Defensemen

Brady Skjei – Roman Josi

Adam Wilsby – Nick Perbix

Nick Blankenburg – Justin Barron

Goalies

Justus Annuen

Juuse Saros

How to Watch

TV: Monumental Sports Network

Radio: 106.7 The Fan/Caps Radio Network

avatar
Harry Lichtman is an award-winning journalist who covers the Washington Capitals for Sportsnaut. He also contributes to the sites ... More about Harry Lichtman