Dubois gets goal, assist in return, Capitals defeat Predators

WASHINGTON -- Pierre-Luc Dubois had a goal and an assist in his return for the Washington Capitals, who defeated the Nashville Predators 4-2 at Capital One Arena on Thursday.

Dubois was playing in his first game since Oct. 31. He had missed the previous 47 games because of surgery he had to address injuries to his abdominal and adductor muscles.

“It felt good,” Dubois said. “I felt very rusty. I’ve got a lot better to give, but just to be back out there with those guys, I’ve been sacrificing so much ... just to be back out there with them.”

Jakob Chychrun had two goals and an assist, and Dylan Strome had two assists for the Capitals (29-23-7), who won four of their final five games before the break for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Logan Thompson made 27 saves in his return after missing four games because of an upper-body injury.

“'LT' coming back, probably as good a performance in the net as we’ve had all season long,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “He was fantastic tonight right from the start, made so many big saves in that game. And I’ll be honest with you, we weren’t very good, so without that performance, we’re not getting two points.”

Jonathan Marchessault and Michael McCarron scored for the Predators (26-24-7), who were coming off a 6-5 overtime loss at home to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday. Adam Wilsby had two assists, and Justus Annunen made 26 saves.

“Really proud of the way guys competed,” Nashville coach Andrew Brunette said. “We’ve been on a run here where the guys don’t give up and we keep coming at you, and tonight was another example of that. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a point out of it, but we’ve got to feel good about where we are in our game.”

Tom Wilson gave Washington a 1-0 lead at 4:15 of the first period. Chychrun's centering pass for Dubois from below the goal line deflected above the circles, where Wilson gloved it down before scoring glove side through a screen.

Dubois made it 2-0 with a power-play goal at 12:48. Strome lost the puck while trying to make a move through two defenders, but Dubois skated into it at the top of the left circle and roofed a shot over Annunen's right shoulder.

Thompson made a stellar save to preserve the two-goal lead at 5:45 of the second period, getting his glove on Marchessault’s snap shot on a 2-on-0 rush.

“I think it was [Erik] Haula, and I knew ‘Marchy’ was going to be cocked because of playing with him (in Vegas), and it’s fun to stop him,” Thompson said. “So, I had a feeling they were going to go back to ‘Marchy,’ and luckily it stayed out.”

Chychrun then pushed the lead to 3-0 at 8:42. After making a spin move to elude Nashville forward Tyson Jost at center ice, Chychrun skated into the offensive zone, cut toward the middle, and beat Annunen with a long-range wrist shot.

“Obviously, we knew we needed a push here the last handful of games, and we did a pretty good job of getting [four out of five], so big games,” Chychrun said.

The Predators cut the deficit to 3-1 at 17:40 when Haula's redirection of Wilsby's point shot deflected in off Marchessault’s left skate.

Nic Dowd appeared to score for the Capitals 54 seconds into the third period, but the Predators challenged the play for offside, and the call was reversed after a review.

McCarron scored 23 seconds after that to pull the Predators to within 3-2 at 1:17. He swatted his own rebound through Thompson's five-hole from the edge of the crease.

“I thought throughout the game we created a lot,” Nashville captain Roman Josi said.

Chychrun extended the lead to 4-2 at 13:11. He skated unchecked into the high slot and scored a power-play goal over Annunen's glove.

It was Chychrun's 21st goal of the season, an NHL career high.

“I thought the back end of a back-to-back with a late night, we really liked our game, put ourselves in a good position,” Brunette said. “Unfortunately, we took a penalty late that kind of got us out of that, especially on a night when you don’t have a whole lot of gas.”

NOTES: Capitals defenseman John Carlson left late in the first period because of a lower-body injury. Carbery said after the game that he assumed it was not going to be a long-term injury. ... Marchessault has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games.