Nashville, TN (SportsNetwork.com) – Barry Trotz received a warm welcome back
from the Bridgestone Arena crowd in his return to Nashville. His former team
didn’t quite return the generosity, however.
James Neal scored his second goal of the night with 1:40 remaining, capping a
furious late comeback from the Predators that produced a 4-3 triumph over
Trotz’s Washington Capitals.
Nashville overcame a 3-2 deficit by scoring twice in the final 4 1/2 minutes,
with Mattias Ekholm netting the equalizer on the power play to help the
Predators to their first five-game win streak in three years.
Trotz was behind the bench for that run, as well as many others while serving
as the Predators’ head coach for the franchise’s first 15 seasons of
existence. That tenure came to an end when he was fired at the conclusion of
the 2013-14 campaign, shortly before taking over in Washington.
Seth Jones added a goal an assist for Nashville, while Carter Hutton came up
with 31 saves in his first start since the Predators announced standout
goaltender Pekka Rinne would miss 3-to-5 weeks with a sprained knee.
Alex Oveckhin notched a pair of goals in the loss, which halted a stretch of
10 straight games of recording at least one point for the Caps. Braden Holtby
finished with 26 saves.
