Coyotes Clip Caps, 3-1

Before the midpoint of the 2019-20 season, the Capitals accrued enough standings equity that they could play what passes for .500 hockey in the modern NHL the remainder of the season and still finish with 100 points. For the last three weeks now, they've been playing .500 hockey, essentially alternating wins with losses.

On Saturday night in Arizona against the struggling Coyotes, the Caps again failed to string together consecutive victories, falling 3-1 in the second game of a three-game road trip.
Phil Kessel's power-play goal at 5:25 of the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and stood up as the game-winner as Arizona won for just the fourth time in its last 16 games (4-8-4). Kessel got a piece of a Jakob Chychrun drive from the left point, tipping it home with just three seconds remaining on a Michal Kempny tripping penalty.
Coyotes goalie Antti Raanta stopped 36 of 37 Washington shots to earn the victory.

"Our execution with the puck could have been a little better to give us some more [scoring] opportunities," says Caps coach Todd Reirden. "With that being said, some of the things we came on this trip looking to improve on in particular was our defensive zone coverage. Giving up the two goals in the two games at even strength is a positive take away from this. Braden Holtby's play was really strong in both of the games, but for us to be able to convert on more chances, we're going to need to execute better than that with the puck."
Caps captain Alex Ovechkin was held without a goal for the fourth straight game as he remains stuck on 698 career goals. It wasn't for a lack of trying or for a dearth of opportunities; Ovechkin pumped 16 pucks toward the Arizona nets, getting eight on goal, having five blocked, and missing on three, including one that hit the post. He has had a number of three-game gaps between goals this season, but this marks the first time in 2019-20 that Ovechkin has gone four straight games without lighting the lamp.
"Lots of chances obviously," says Ovechkin. "It didn't go in, but I think we had greater chances to score. And obviously [Raanta] made some pretty good saves. Nothing you can do right now."

The Caps and Coyotes skated to a scoreless first period, with each team failing to cash in on a single power play chance in the initial frame. Holtby made a pair of excellent stops in the immediate aftermath of turnovers by one of his teammates, denying Christian Dvorak from the inside of the left circle early in the first and stopping Lawson Crouse from in tight just over a minute later.
Each team had another opportunity with the extra man early in the second, but again neither team was able to take advantage. Arizona began to tilt the tide of possession in the middle stanza, forechecking the Caps hard and keeping them from getting through neutral ice with any degree of regularity.
The Coyotes scored first, taking a 1-0 lead on a Dvorak goal at 7:06 of the second period. Arizona put together a good shift in Washington ice, and the Caps managed to punch the puck out to the neutral zone at one point, but before they could make a play on it, Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski sent Dvorak right back into Washington territory with it. Dvorak left it for Conor Garland up high, and then made a run toward the net. Garland returned it to him, and Dvorak got behind the Caps' defense and tucked it behind Holtby to give the home team the advantage.
Washington was unable to generate much in the way of zone time or scoring chances at 5-on-5 in the middle frame. The Caps went nearly a dozen minutes without a shot on net from a forward, but when they broke that spell late in the period, they also tied the game.

Ex-Coyote Richard Panik won a face-off at the Washington line, and he gained possession high in Arizona ice and carried to the net. Travis Boyd took a shot from in tight, and Antti Raanta made the stop, but Carl Hagelin was right on the doorstep to slam the rebound home, tying the game at 1-1 at 17:10 of the second period.
Arizona regained the lead on Kessel's power-play goal early in the third, and Washington was unable to answer back with an extra-man opportunity of its own later in the third. The Coyotes were effective at keeping the Caps to the outside and Washington was never able to establish much of a forecheck.

"It was huge," says Dvorak of his team's defensive play. "You've got to play that way to win because if we didn't do that, we weren't going to win. The key for us was not turning [pucks] over in the neutral zone, to get pucks deep and we did a good job there."
Crouse ended any Washington hopes of another late comeback when he scored an empty-netter with just under 30 seconds remaining, accounting for the 3-1 final.
"They were a skating team tonight," says Hagelin of the Coyotes. "I think they were always above us. It was hard to create chances. They went back hard for pucks, they rimmed them, and they played a solid defensive game."
Since returning from their midseason break three weeks ago, Washington is an underwhelming 4-5-0. They are 10-9-0 in their last 19 games, the equivalent of nearly a quarter of a season. The Caps finish their trip on Monday afternoon in Las Vegas.