Caps defeat Nashville, 4-1

In Nashville, the Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin scored twice and the Caps defeated the Predators, 4-1, on Tuesday night.

“The fact that it’s Nashville and this is the last stop that we had … for me, the win was really good for our team,” Caps head coach Peter Laviolette said of his former team. “It’s been a bit of a roller coaster. The Ottawa (Senators) game (a 4-1 loss Sunday), you don’t feel good about it. You lose a game at home and you want to get back and win a hockey game. It ends up being Nashville. That’s just the way it was kind of dealt out. It was a good win for our team.”

The Capitals improved to 27-15-9.

Ilya Samsonov made 33 saves in the Caps win.

Michael McCarron was the Preds’ lone striker in the loss.

“I liked [our] game tonight,” Nashville head coach John Hynes said. “I thought we had good energy. I thought we were on our toes, the things we talked about. It’s icing a game that we feel gives us the best chance to win night in and night out, and play consistently.

“I think lots of times we talked about controlling what you can control, and I thought for the most part tonight, we did that.”

The Predators dropped to 28-17-4.

Joe Snively and Nick Jensen added single markers for the Caps.

Juuse Saros made 24 saves in the Nashville loss.

“I think it goes without saying his release is probably the best ever in the game,” the Predators’ Mark Borowiecki said. “He’s a pure shooter. You know where he’s going to be on the ice, right? Top of the circle on that far side. But for whatever reason, he still finds ways to get pucks to the net. It’s just a testament to him and his skill. He’s a tough guy to handle out there.”