Caps Can't Close Out Coyotes, Fall 3-2 in OT

Friday night's game between the Capitals and the Arizona Coyotes was uglier than a Christmas sweater, and it ultimately left the Caps feeling as though they'd been re-gifted a lump of coal at night's end.

Washington was just 61 seconds away from a season high fifth straight win, and it was 61 seconds away from its first regulation win here in nearly a dozen years. But Christian Fischer tied the game for the Coyotes at 2-2 with 1:01 remaining in regulation, and Clayton Keller won it for Arizona in the final minute of the extra session, 3-2.

The Caps, who had an opportunity to add to their 2-1 lead on a third-period power play, were not able to do so in what was a rather lackluster overall performance. They also went without a shot on net over the final 9:04 of regulation against Arizona, which halted a seven-game skid (0-6-1) with just its eighth victory in 37 games this season.

Washington ends up ruing missed scoring chances, wasted extra-man opportunities and a couple of shots that hit iron rather than twine.

"We had an opportunity," says Caps coach Barry Trotz, "obviously we had a two-on-one, and an opportunity to go up 3-1. We didn't do it and we got scored on late. Things change in a hurry and I thought they had way too many chances already, and in the overtime as well. We weren't where we needed to be, but take nothing away from the Coyotes. They played a real strong game today."

Philipp Grubauer started in goal for the Caps, and as usual, he deserved more support and a better fate on this night. The Capitals managed to get only two of their 12 first-period shot attempts on net, but fortunately Grubauer was on his game. He made a neat left pad stop on Max Domi early in the first and added a stellar weak-side stop on Nick Cousins just after the midpoint of the period.

The first frame featured a combined total of just seven shots on net and a mere 25 shot attempts, as it resembled a New Jersey Devils intrasquad scrimmage from the mid-1990s more than anything of recent hockey vintage.

The Caps got the scoring started early in the second period, taking a 1-0 lead on a forechecking goal from the Evgeny Kuznetsov line.

Jakub Vrana turned on the jets to negate a potential icing call, and Kuznetsov hugged the right wing half wall to prevent goaltender Scott Wedgewood's clearing bid from exiting the Arizona zone. Kuznetsov went back to Vrana down low, and Wedgewood stopped the Washington winger's shot from in close. But Vrana got his own rebound quickly issued a slick backhand feed to T.J. Oshie, arriving right on time in the slot. Oshie buried it to give Washington a lead at 5:40 of the second.

Washington wasn't able to add to its lead, and trouble began brewing late in the second when the Coyotes hemmed the Caps in their own end for the final minute of the frame. With eight seconds remaining, Caps defenseman Taylor Chorney took a holding minor, enabling the Coyotes to start the third with 1:52 worth of power play time.

With less than 30 seconds remaining on Chorney's sentence, the Coyotes tied it at 1-1 on Christian Dvorak's power-play goal. From the right circle, Dvorak fired a well-placed shot inside the far post at 1:28 of the third.

Kuznetsov and company were easily Washington's best forward trio on this night, and they combined to restore the Capitals' lead just over three minutes later.

Christian Djoos put a shot on net from the right point, and Wedgewood made the stop, but Kuznetsov was in perfect position to collect and quickly deposit the rebound, making it a 2-1 game at 4:32 of the third.

About five minutes later, the Caps went on the man advantage for the second time in the game, but it would be to no avail. The Coyotes had two shots to the Caps' one during that power play, and Grubauer had to shut down fellow German Tobias Rieder's shorthanded breakaway bid to keep the Coyotes from tying the game right there.

Seconds after Grubauer's save, Alex Ovechkin put a 50-footer on net; it was Washington's only shot on goal in four minutes worth of power play time on the night. It would also turn out to be the Caps' final shot on net of regulation.

Washington came within inches of clearing the zone ahead of Fischer's game-tying goal, but Jason Demers kept it in for the Coyotes, and he put the puck right towards the Washington net. The puck was sitting in the paint behind Grubauer after Keller took a whack at the rebound, and Fischer got to it first, nudging it home.

In overtime, Arizona won the opening face-off, and the Caps hardly had the puck. The Coyotes outshot the Caps 6-1 in the extra session, and by a 12-1 count over the final 13 minutes and 37 seconds of hockey played on this night.

"We didn't start with it," says Trotz, "When you don't start with it, you are chasing around for a bit. We weren't good in the three-on-three; usually that's a strength for us. We didn't do good today."

Domi made a nice play to set up Keller for the game-winner, and the Caps ended up settling for a single point.

Washington didn't play well enough to win, and in the end it was probably fortunate to come away with a point. The Caps missed the net more times (22) than they had shots on net (a single-game season low of 17) and they had more shots blocked (19) than they had shots on net as well.

"We played well," says Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet. "They only had 17 shots. That is a world-class team; they have [future] Hall of Famers over there.

"For me, I like our defensive effort. We played a really responsible game. We cashed in our chances at the end. It was nice to be on the other side of that. I thought the whole team contributed tonight, which was nice."