WATCH Predators vs. Capitals Live Stream Online: NHL 2016 Division Rivals, Playoff Rankings

Hockey's back for the official 2015-2016 NHL season, so get ready, MstarsNews readers!

The Nashville Predators battle it out on the ice against the Washington Capitals in Week 23 of the regular season on Friday, March 18 at 7:00 p.m. EST from the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. Read on to see where fans can watch and listen to a live stream of the highly-anticipated Friday evening hockey game online and catch up-to-date feeds and coverage on highlight plays and scores.

Before heading into the official playoff season, Washington maintain the extremely impressive top spot in Joe McDonald's official NHL power rankings for ESPN.com, while Nashville falls just a bit behind (out of a total 30 teams):

Capitals (1): "T.J. Oshie matched a career high with his 21st goal of the season; Justin Williams reached the 20-goal plateau for the fifth time. The Capitals are 5-4-1 in their past 10."     

Record: 50-14-5 (1st in Metropolitan Division).

Predators (13): "The Predators are 7-1-2 in their past 10. But they had their points streak halted at 14 games with a 4-2 loss to the Canucks on Saturday. It was the Preds' first loss since Feb. 9."

Record: 36-22-13 (4th in Central Division).

Tonight's big game will be broadcasted live on local sports channels TVA, FSTN and CSMA.

For fans who want to try out a free live stream (which may mean downloading a torrent), click here. Also try this or another option.

And here's more info on current Division standings.

For a one-time fee, fans can access a NHL Gamecenter Live pass.

ESPN, ESPN Scoreboard, and NHL.com  are both good sources for up-to-date game coverage and feeds.

More radio listening options for Capitals and Predators.

Official NHL team websites: Capitals and Predators.

Enjoy this evening's exciting hockey game from the East Coast, and always stick with MstarsNews for even more NHL gameday coverage later this week. Which top division rival will snag the win tonight?