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Washington had a two goal lead to defend on the road against the Phoenix Coyotes but a late frame tally from Shane Doan tied the game at three and pushed the contest into overtime. The extra five minutes weren’t enough to decide the contest but the Coyotes won shortly thereafter on the strength of shootout tallies from Antoine Vermette and Mikkel Boedker. Doan paced Coyotes skaters with two goals on his five shots.
The Capitals had all the momentum in the game after successful penalty kills totaling more than five minutes in the second period put Phoenix and their fans on their heels. A quick tally from Joel Ward put the good guys up by two but goaltender Michal Neuvirth and his defense weren’t up to the task against Phoenix’s final push. The loss snaps Washington’s four game winning streak but does push them to five straight with at least one point. That, however, won’t suffice after tonight’s late game letdown.
Ten more notes on the game:
- Shane Doan scored the game’s first goal, the power forward corralling a loose puck in the slot and walking it around a fallen Neuvirth for the power play tally. With Karl Alzner engaged against Martin Hanzal it was John Carlson on the wrong side of the crease when Doan found the puck on his stick with space to create. He would knot the score at three with less than two minutes to play and earn Phoenix their first of two points, his snap shot from the slot eluding Neuvirth through a screen.
- Washington jumped on the scoreboard only thirty seven seconds into the second period, Troy Brouwer’s short sided slap shot sizzling over Smith’s shoulder. A strong pass from Mike Green in the defensive zone sprung Brouwer down the right wing on the power play and the winger didn’t miss his mark by an inch. All three Capitals goals were scored in the second period, their strongest by far.
- Brouwer’s hand never touched the puck on the defensive zone faceoff that led to his Delay of Game penalty in the second but his overzealous response to the referee’s decision only made the road ahead tougher. How fitting is it that Mike Ribeiro was on the ice during this exchange between the Capitals and the stripes?
- After the great shorthanded effort Joel Ward would give the Capitals their two goal lead, the puck squirting off of Rob Klinkhammer and landing in the Washington winger’s wheelhouse. With Smith still facing the slot Ward was able to whip his 7th of the season through the Phoenix keeper’s wickets. While the goal wouldn’t stand as the game winner it was nice to see Ward rewarded for putting himself in the right place in the offensive zone.
The Capitals came into Glendale and squeezed out only a single point when they had both firmly in hand after forty minutes. The team crumbled under the Coyotes’ late pressure, Nate Schmidt‘s late Delay of Game penalty exemplary of that. Doan would take advantage of the miscue and begin stealing points from Washington’s grasp, the Captain leading his team to victory on home ice tonight.
The Capitals will fly to Denver tonight where they will look to shake off the third period and try to piece together a sixty minute game against Patrick Roy’s league leading Colorado Avalanche. Sometimes a chance to get right back at it and right the ship is just what a team needs after a tough loss.
Game highlights: