Patient Nylander boosts Caps

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By Corey Masisak

Michael Nylander waited and then waited some more, playing a game of chicken with Nashville Predators goaltender Dan Ellis.

Nylander won.

The Swedish center nearly slowed to a halt as he approached Ellis, and when the goaltender dropped to the ice, Nylander calmly lifted the puck with a backhanded shot into the net for the deciding shootout goal in a 4-3 win for the Washington Capitals against the Predators in front of 17,011 on Tuesday night at Verizon Center.

Caps goaltender Jose Theodore stopped Martin Erat with a leg save to seal the victory for Washington, which was playing without reigning league MVP Alex Ovechkin, who is at home in Russia to spend time with his ill grandfather.

"It shows that we're not a one-man team," forward Brooks Laich said. "We've been criticized of that maybe a couple of years ago, but you can't say that anymore."

Alexander Semin had a goal and an assist and scored in the shootout for Washington. With or without his buddy Ovechkin, Semin continued his early season tear.

The two points gave him 16 for the season, two more than Evgeni Malkin for the league lead. Malkin's Pittsburgh Penguins played late last night at San Jose. His eight goals are tied with Buffalo's Thomas Vanek and St. Louis' Keith Tkachuk for tops in the NHL.

Nicklas Backstrom fed Semin with a beautiful diagonal pass on the power play to put the Caps in front 3-2 early in the third period. It was Semin's sixth multipoint game in nine contests.

"[Semin] has been really, really good all year," Bruce Boudreau said. "I really believe he is coming of age now. He's coming out of his shell a little bit. He's a very quiet guy, but on the ice he's coming out of shell."

Jason Arnott rallied the Predators with his second goal of the night at 13:24 to force overtime. Arnott deflected defenseman Ryan Suter's shot from the right point past Theodore, who made 23 saves for his fourth victory.