Jakob Chychrun scored twice in a three-point performance and Pierre-Luc Dubois netted one goal and one assist in his first game in more than three months to lead the host Washington Capitals to a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on Thursday.
Tom Wilson also scored for the Capitals, who have won four of five games, while Dylan Strome netted two assists.
Goaltender Logan Thompson made 27 saves in his first game back from missing four games due to injury, and in a final tuneup before going to the Olympics with Team Canada.
Jonathan Marchessault and Michael McCarron replied for the Predators, who were defeated in two games on successive nights.
Goalie Justus Annunen stopped 26 shots and Adam Wilsby collected a pair of assists.
Wilson, who is also off to Italy to play for Canada, opened the scoring when the puck came to him in the high slot and he buried a shot through the screen at the 4:15 mark and snapped a nine-game goal drought.
Dubois, who last played on Halloween, doubled the lead with his first goal of the season eight minutes later. He picked up the puck in the left circle and wired home a blocker-side shot.
Chychrun, surprisingly not named to Canada’s club, hit the 20-goal mark on the season when he made it a 3-0 game just before the midway point of the second period. The slick-skating blueliner eluded a check in the neutral zone, worked to the slot and unloaded a wrist shot off the bar and in the net.
He is the second defenseman in franchise history to record consecutive 20-goal seasons, joining Larry Murphy.
Marchessault gave the Predators a jolt by putting them on the board with 2:20 remaining in the second period when a deflected puck that ricocheted off his skate and into the net.
McCarron made it a one-goal game 77 seconds into the third period, and just after the Capitals had a potential goal overturned by a successful coach’s challenge for offside. During a scramble, McCarron converted his second rebound attempt.
However, Chychrun salted away the victory with 6:49 remaining in the third period by firing a top-corner shot from the slot for a power-play tally. His 21st goal marked a career high.
The win came at a cost for Washington, as defenseman John Carlson left the game late in the first period due to a lower-body injury.
–Field Level Media
