Capitals vs. Coyotes Recap: Arizona Averts Caps’ Comeback Attempt

Coming off a loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night the Capitals concluded their five game homestand by hosting Arizona at Capital One Arena. The Coyotes came into town and surprised many by upsetting the defending Stanley Cup Champions 4 to 1 in relatively easy fashion.

Here’s Sunday night’s Plus/Minus:

Plus: In his return to the Washington lineup John Carlson skated in his 623rd career contest, surpassing Sylvain Cote for 6th place in franchise history for games played by a defenseman. Congrats John!

Minus: Washington was unable to take advantage of the night’s favorable match up. Arizona played in Pittsburgh last night and arrived to Washington, D.C. late but Rick Tocchet’s team was quicker and sharper all evening.

Nine more notes on the game.

1. 75 seconds into the contest Dmitry Orlov was sent to the penalty box for holding and Washington’s penalty kill got to work. The Coyotes sustained offensive zone time but were thwarted by several high quality Braden Holtby saves.
2. Washington would be unsuccessful on their second disadvantage, however. With Matt Niskanen in the box Vinnie Hinostroza tallied on a fast break after a failed Capitals’ chance.
3. The Capitals began shifting momentum through the early part of the second period, outshooting their guests 12 to 2 midway through the frame. Unfortunately though Richard Panik would net the next goal, his fourth of the season.
4. But 44 seconds later Nicklas Backstrom finally got Washington on the board. A strong pass from Alex Ovechkin in the corner gave Backstrom time and space to whip his shot up and over Darcy Kuemper.
5. Arizona would answer back in short order. With Evgeny Kuznetsov serving an inexcusable offensive zone penalty Alex Galchenyuk extended the Coyotes’ lead to two once again with an unassisted power play goal.
6. Less than a minute into the third period T.J. Oshie was whistled for high sticking, once again in the offensive zone. This time the sentence was for four minutes, quelling the Capitals’ comeback attempt early.
7. Washington’s penalty killing team was able to negate the disadvantage but with only fifteen minutes left in the game both the Coyotes and the clock were against Washington.
8. The Capitals ended up with 13 shots on goal in the third period (for a total of 39) but were unable to beat Kuemper again.
9. Derek Stepan would add an empty net goal with 92 seconds to play to provide the margin of victory for Arizona.