The Arizona Coyotes begin a back-to-back set of home games that starts Friday night (April 22) against Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. The last time the Coyotes played host to the Caps was on Feb. 15, 2020 (3-1 W). Puck drop versus Washington is set for 7:30 p.m.
PACK FACTS
Friday is the second of two times Arizona and Washington will play each other. The last meeting took place in the Nation's Capital on Oct. 29, a 2-0 Caps win. The previous matchup was on the back end of a back-to-back, while Friday's game will be the front end.
Arizona has beaten the Capitals four of the last five times they've played at home and hold a 7-2-1 record in the last 10 home games versus Washington. The Yotes also enter with a 6-3-1 record in the last 10 games against them overall.
The Coyotes enter Friday with five players who have found the scoresheet in back-to-back games. One of them is Nathan Smith, which has featured his first career assist (Monday) and his first career goal (Wednesday). Another is Phil Kessel, who has posted three helpers in that span.
Kessel (7-41-48) is two points shy of his 12th season of 50-plus points. With Clayton Keller and Nick Schmaltz already clearing the 50-point mark, Kessel would make this year's Coyotes team the first since 2013-14 to have a trio of 50-point skaters.
Schmaltz is expected to face the Capitals for the first time this season after missing the previous game due to injury. The forward picked up two assists last time out, which propelled his season point total to 54 (23-31-54), a new career-high. It was also his 13th multi-point game of 2021-22, which is the most Schmaltz has produced in a campaign.
The Coyotes franchise is 34-33-12-3 all-time against the Capitals.
A LOOK AT THE CAPITALS
Washington (43-23-11, 97 pts) has clinched a playoff berth and is vying for a spot in the Metropolitan's top-3, entering tonight two points behind Pittsburgh for that positioning. Alex Ovechkin's 50 goals rank fourth in the NHL after securing his ninth 50-goal season on Wednesday. John Carlson leads the Caps with 53 assists, which ranks eighth among NHL defensemen. Carlson has also recorded 68 points on the season for the fifth-highest total among blueliners. The Capitals are concluding their longest road trip of the season, a five-game stretch where they've gone 2-1-1 so far.
MILESTONES TO WATCH
Phil Kessel: Two goals from 400 career NHL goals.
Phil Kessel: One game from 1,200 career NHL games.
Karel Vejmelka: One game from 50 career NHL games.
KEY CONNECTIONS
Ex-Coyotes/Jets
• Scott Arniel (1981-86, 1990-91)
• Johan Larsson (2020-22)
Ex-Capitals
• Phil Housley (1996-98)
• Jay Beagle (2008-18)
• Travis Boyd (2017-20)
• Dmitrij Jaskin (2018-19)
Loui Eriksson played with Nic Dowd in Vancouver in 2017-18.
Alex Galchenyuk was teammates with Lars Eller in Montreal from 2012-16.
Barrett Hayton won a gold medal with Connor McMichael on Team Canada at the 2020 World Junior Championship.
Phil Housley was on Peter Laviolette's coaching staff in Nashville from 2014-17, where Matt Irwin was on the team in 2016-17.
Andrew Ladd and Cory Stillman played for Peter Laviolette in Carolina from 2005-08 and won the Stanley Cup in 2006…Ladd had Blaine Forsythe as an assistant coach on the WHL's Calgary Hitmen in 2004-05.
Phil Kessel played with Conor Sheary (2015-18) and Justin Schultz (2015-19) in Pittsburgh and won back-to-back Stanley Cups with them in 2016-17…Had Peter Laviolette as an assistant coach on Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Nick Schmaltz skated with Trevor van Riemsdyk (2016-17) and Michal Kempny (2016-18) in Chicago.
Anton Stralman played for Scott Arniel in Columbus in 2010-11 and later had him as an assistant coach with the Rangers in 2013-14.
