Coyotes breeze past Caps for second straight win after 14-game slide
Mar 3, 2024; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Arizona Coyotes left wing Jason Zucker (16) celebrates with Coyotes right wing Dylan Guenther (11) after scoring a goal against the Washington Capitals in the second period at Capital One Arena. credits: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports Dylan Guenther had a goal and two assists as the visiting Arizona Coyotes followed their 14-game losing streak with a second straight win, beating the Washington Capitals 5-2 on Sunday afternoon.
Logan Cooley, Jason Zucker, Michael Kesselring and Nick Schmaltz also scored for the Coyotes, who were missing Clayton Keller to injury. Arizona goaltender Karel Vejmelka made 24 saves on 26 shots as the Coyotes delivered a gut punch to the playoff-hopeful Capitals.
Sonny Milano and Anthony Mantha found the back of the net in Washington's effort. Charlie Lindgren thwarted 23 of Arizona's 27 shots on goal.
Kesselring scored the eventual winning goal to bring the score to 3-1, 6:45 into the second period, by firing a snap shot past Lindgren after a cross-ice pass on the rush from Liam O'Brien.
Cooley's opener came at the 7:33 mark of the first period, with the 19-year-old center finding himself on a breakaway, jumping onto a stretch pass from Guenther and lifting the puck over Lindgren's left pad.
The Coyotes continued to pressure through the second and third, doubling their lead on the power play at the 4:06 mark of the second, as Zucker slotted the puck into a gaping net after getting on Guenther's cross-crease pass.
Guenther notched the first three-point game of his NHL career, bringing him to 17 points on the season. Arizona scored on two of six power-play opportunities.
The Capitals made things interesting early in the third period. Mantha scored a one-timer from the high slot on the power play just 10 seconds into the final frame, making it 4-2, but that was as close as the home team got in their comeback effort.
Schmaltz sealed the victory for Arizona with 21 seconds to play in regulation, sliding the puck into the empty net.
As the Capitals fell further back in the race for the final wild-card berth in the Eastern Conference, former star center Evgeny Kuznetsov cleared through waivers with the purpose of assignment to AHL affiliate Hershey.
—Field Level Media