Preview: Coyotes Host Capitals in Fourth Game of Homestand

Dec. 4, 2023 | 7:00 pm MST | Mullett Arena, Tempe, Ariz.

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208

WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: 98.7 FM Arizona Sports
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App

The Arizona Coyotes’ stretch of playing each of the last five Stanley Cup-winning teams is coming to an end.

Fresh off a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, the Coyotes host the Washington Capitals tonight in the fourth game of their five-game homestand. The Desert Dogs have won four straight games, all of which have come against the most recent Stanley Cup winning teams: Vegas (2023), Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2021, 2020), and St. Louis (2019).

The Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018.

Monday’s game marks the first of two games between Arizona and Washington, with the second-and-final meeting between the two coming on March 3 at Capital One Arena.

Forward Michael Carcone has scored in three straight games, recording four goals over that span. The 27-year-old, who signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Coyotes in June, leads the team with 11 goals just one season removed from winning the AHL’s scoring title.

Head coach André Tourigny said the next step for the team is to sustain its strong play that has fueled its current four-game run.

“When we will be consistent for seven games out of eight all the time, I will say OK, now we’re there,” Tourigny said. “For us, it’s still the urgency and the battle of having the same mindset and urgency we’ve had during those three-or-four games.”

Arizona’s special teams continue to play well, as its power play ranks sixth in the league, (25.64 precent) while its penalty kill is 15th (80.25 percent). The Coyotes have allowed just two power-play goals over their last eight games – both of which came against the Avalanche on Thursday.

Goalie Connor Ingram is expected to get the nod tonight, which will mark his fifth straight start. The 26-year-old has won four straight and is 10-3-0 with a 2.40 goals-against average (7th in NHL) and .925 save percentage (5th in NHL) in 14 games this season. His 10 wins are tied with Adin Hill, Igor Shesterkin, and Jake Oettinger for sixth-most in the league. He has never faced the Capitals in his career.

Ingram was named the NHL's First Star of the Week earlier on Monday.

Rookie Logan Cooley, who is tied for fourth place among all NHL rookies with 13 points, grew up a Capitals fan, and Alex Ovechkin was his favorite player.

“It’s going to feel a lot more real once you’re actually out there, but ever since I was a little kid I was a big Ovie fan,” the 19-year-old said. “I’ve the way he played, and to share the ice with him is going to be cool, and I’m looking forward to it.”

Player to Watch: Nick Schmaltz has scored in two straight games and has four points over his last five contests. 

ABOUT THE CAPITALS
Washington is in third place in the Metropolitan Division behind the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes -- despite playing in two fewer games than them -- and is 7-3-0 in its last 10 games despite dropping its most recent matchup 4-1 to the Golden Knights.

Ovechkin and John Carlson lead the team with 14 points each, though Tom Wilson and Dylan Strome’s eight goals are tops. Ovechkin is just one point shy of 1,500 for his career.

“They’re really good at puck recovery, they’re really heavy and hard on their battles,” Tourigny said. “They don’t give goals. They are really stingy defensively. They have that mindset, they hold onto the puck to keep possession, because that’s their strength, and they play really good defensively.”

Darcy Kuemper and Charlie Lindgren have split time in net this season, with the former posting a 5-5-2 record with a 3.04 GAA and .893 SV%, while the latter is 5-2-0 with a 2.30 GAA and .934 SV%. Kuemper played 121 games with the Coyotes from 2017-18 – 2020-21, and won a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022. The 30-year-old Lindgren has been stellar when called upon this season, and is 4-1-0 with one shutout over his last five games, but missed Washington's last game due to an illness. Hunter Shepard was called up for backup duty, and the 28-year-old is 2-0-0 with a 2.50 GAA and .915 SV% in his two appearances earlier this season.

The Caps have not scored as much as in years past, ranking 31st with 2.38 goals per game, but they allow the 10th-fewest goals in the league at 2.81 goals. Their power play ranks last in the league, converting on 8.33 percent of its chances, while the penalty kill is 14th with an 80.60 percent success rate.

Coyotes forward Liam O’Brien spent 2014-2018 in the Capitals’ organization, and he said it’s critical for Arizona to maintain its style of play to maintain its success tonight.

“You have to be on them, you have to be physical, you have to take away their space, and you have to play fast,” he said. “If we play fast, we have a really good chance of beating them.”

Player to Watch: Always Ovechkin, who hasn’t scored since Nov. 18, but keep an eye on Wilson, who has four goals in his last two games, and seven points in 15 career games against the Coyotes.