Capitals beat Predators on Tuch's third-period goal

The Washington Capitals beat the Nashville Predators 4-3 on Thursday at Bridgestone Arena. It was the back half of a back-to-back that started a night earlier in Philadelphia. Read more: Capitals beat Predators on Tuch's third-period goal

Filip Forsberg put Nashville up 1-0 with a power-play goal at 12:48 of the first period. Ryan O'Reilly and Roman Josi also had the assists. Cole Hutson answered later in the period, tying it 1-1 at 16:13 on a feed from St. Ivany and Dubois.

Then Boone Jenner put Washington ahead 2-1 early in the second period. He scored off a Martin Fehervary point shot at 4:15. Forsberg tied it again at 9:09 for his second goal of the night, but Hutson answered once more.

His second goal, at 13:46, made it 3-2 Washington. It gave the rookie defenseman the first two-goal game of his NHL career.

Related: Behind the glass: Capitals 5, Flyers 2 — Caps clobber Philly, storm into Nashville off an impressive 4-1 homestand

Tuch scores the winner

Nashville wasn't finished. Still, Ross Colton tied it 3-3 at 6:34 of the third period. He converted a rebound set up by Edstrom and Josi.

Alex Tuch ended it for good with 9:51 left. He beat Juuse Saros with a wrist shot from the left faceoff dot on a feed from Kyrou and Chychrun. It was Tuch's 10th goal of the season and his fifth in his last three games.

Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves on 27 shots for the win. Juuse Saros stopped 25 of 29 shots in the loss. Meanwhile, Roman Josi finished with three assists for Nashville, while Protas and St. Ivany each had two for Washington.

Related: Predators host Capitals in third game of five-game homestand

Faceoffs favored Nashville

The Predators controlled the draw all night, winning 34 of 56 faceoffs for a 60.7 percent clip. That number usually dictates pace, but Washington didn't need it.

The Capitals still scored four times while going 0-for-2 on the power play. However, Forsberg's power-play goal was the extent of Nashville's special-teams edge. So Washington leaned on even-strength offense and also out-shot Nashville 29-27.

The result lifted Washington to 8-4-0, its third straight win. Nashville has lost four of its last five. The home crowd of 17,159 also saw its team fall to 2-3-4 in its last nine games.

Alex Ovechkin played his final regular-season game at Bridgestone Arena in his announced farewell season, finishing without a point on three shots in 10:56 of ice time.

The Capitals host Minnesota on Sunday, chasing a fourth straight win. The Predators get Tampa Bay at home Saturday, trying to avoid a fifth loss in their last six.