Photo: John Russell/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals shut out the Nashville Predators by a score of 3-0 at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday. The win vaulted the Capitals’ record to 5-4-0 this season. Goaltender Darcy Kuemper made 34 saves in his first shutout with Washington.

Capitals’ Lines at Nashville

Alex Ovechkin — Dylan Strome — Conor Sheary
Marcus Johansson — Evgeny Kuznetsov — T.J. Oshie
Aliaksei Protas — Lars Eller — Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn — Nic Dowd — Garnet Hathaway

Dmitry Orlov — John Carlson
Martin Fehervary — Nick Jensen
Erik Gustafsson — Trevor Van Riemsdyk

Kuemper
Charlie Lindgren

The Capitals made no lineup changes from their 2-0 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

Scratched: C Connor McMichael, LW Joe Snively, LHD Matt Irwin

Injured: LW Carl Hagelin (hip, missed ninth straight game, out indefinitely); RW Tom Wilson (ACL, ninth, indefinite); C Nicklas Backstrom (hip, ninth, indefinite); RW Connor Brown (lower-body, fifth, indefinite)

First Period

Scoring

None

Oshie and Carlson both left the game with lower-body injuries and were labeled as doubtful to return.

pic.twitter.com/nrvwGaPmV6

— Chuck Lindgren’s Muzzy (@aliaksei_protas) October 30, 2022

Shots: 15-11 Washington

Other notable stats: Washington led 5-1 in takeaways but Nashville won 62% of the draws. Each team threw nine hits and did not score on one power play.

Second Period

Scoring

12:49, 1-0 Washington: Malenstyn quickly released one to the top left corner from the slot after Dowd picked the puck off of two Nashville defenders, skated in, and threw it to Malenstyn.

THIS LINE pic.twitter.com/6UHIBbFmQT

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2022

Shots: 26-21 Washington (10-10 in the second)

KUEMPS 🫡 pic.twitter.com/F8qmzsk3BB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2022

Other notable stats: Each team did not score on three power plays. Nashville led 27-16 in hits and won 61% of the faceoffs.

Third Period

Scoring

6:24, 2-0: Protas buried one through the five-hole of goaltender Juuse Saros while being surrounded by two Nashville defenders after a rebound off of Jensen’s shot from the right point pin balled around down low. The 21-year-old has two goals and three points over his past three outings.

G R I T T Y GOAL pic.twitter.com/g13eTxLJDB

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2022

17:15, 3-0 (empty-net goal): Ovechkin chased down a loose puck and ripped it from the left dot after Orlov lobbed it down the ice from the defensive zone.

7️⃣8️⃣4️⃣ pic.twitter.com/jWcWEVBBHj

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2022

Shots: 35-34 Washington (13-9 Nashville in the third)

Other notable stats: Nashville led 36-28 in hits and won 61% of the faceoffs. They were held off the scoresheet on five power plays while Washington failed to convert on three.

Next game: Monday at Carolina Hurricanes (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington+ locally, NHL Network nationally)

By Harrison Brown