Filip Forsberg scored during a three-goal first period and had two assists as the Nashville Predators became the first Western Conference team to clinch a playoff berth with a 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
Mattias Ekholm, Mike Fisher and Forsberg, a first-round pick by Washington in 2012, scored during a five-minute span midway through the first period for a 3-0 lead.
Mike Ribeiro added a goal against one of his former teams off an assist by Forsberg after Washington’s Troy Brouwer scored twice earlier in the second period.
The Predators have won four consecutive games after losing nine of their last 11. The Central Division leaders last reached the postseason in 2012 under Barry Trotz, now Washington’s coach.
Washington hold’s the Eastern Conference’s top wild-card spot, five points ahead of Ottawa and Boston, who were tied for the second and final spot. The Capitals entered having won four of their previous five games.
Mike Green scored the Capitals’ third goal 20 seconds into the third period.
Alex Ovechkin went without a goal for the sixth time in seven games. Ovechkin leads the NHL with 47 goals.
Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne stopped 23 shots.
Brouwer beat Rinne twice early in the second period including a short-handed score to pull the Capitals to 3-2.
Nashville swept the season series 2-0.
The Predators fended off a two-man advantage for 55 seconds in the first period despite playing without all-star defenseman Shea Weber.
Ekholm’s hooking penalty put the Predators in the 5-3 bind, but he countered the mistake with an unassisted goal less than two minutes after returning.
Ekholm gathered the puck after Curtis Glencross botched a straightforward clearing attempt for Washington. He deftly placed a backhanded shot past Capitals goalie Braden Holtby for a 1-0 lead nine minutes into the period.
Fisher’s wrist shot less than three minutes later added to the matinee crowd’s discomfort. The frustration rose inside the arena soon after for a variety of reasons.
The Capitals selected Forsberg 11th overall in the 2012 NHL Draft and then traded the center prospect to the Predators in 2013.
The 20-year-old assisted on Fisher’s goal and then ripped a slap shot past Holtby for a 3-0 lead with 5:13 remaining in the period. Trotz immediately pulled Holtby after 13 shots faced for Justin Peters.
Washington quickly regained momentum upon returning to the ice.
Brouwer’s goal 19 seconds into the second period snapped a personal 12-game drought.
The Predators won, 4-3, in Nashville on Jan. 16.
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