Capitals halt home power-play drought, topple Coyotes in OT
WASHINGTON — Finally, the Washington Capitals cashed in on a power play at home. And not a moment too soon.
Alex Ovechkin snapped a home power-play drought, and John Carlson scored the winner with 45.4 seconds left in overtime as the Capitals came back to beat the Nhl-worst Arizona Coyotes 3-2 on Monday for their first three-game win streak of the season.
Washington hadn’t scored on its past 21 home power plays, with the team’s hallmark in previous seasons looking like a weakness.
“We just have to manage the puck because we knew exactly what we have to do out there,” said Ovechkin, who scored his team-leading 12th goal in the second period. “Sometimes it’s working; sometimes it’s not. Finally, it’s nice to get a goal. It was a big goal for us, as well.”
The Capitals went 1-for-6 on the power play against the Coyotes, who were penalized four times for slashing. Washington is 2-for-25 this season at Capital One Arena, but Carlson sees progress.
“It’s just a matter of sticking to it and seeing some pucks go in and building some momentum that way,” said Carlson, who leads all NHL players in ice time at 27:14 per game. “We see the numbers and scoring chances and all that kind of stuff, and we watch the film and know what’s going on. There’s no curtain over our eyes.”
Arizona fell to 2-8-1 when scoring first but picked up a point for the third time in five games. Coach Rick Tocchet wasn’t happy about the lack of discipline that kept his team from earning its first regulation victory.
“The slashing and hooking, you can’t do that against this team,” Tocchet said. “It’s carelessness.”
The Capitals fell behind 2-0 as the Coyotes scored on their first two shots: Clayton Keller’s rookie-best 11th goal of the season and then Christian Fischer on a deflection.
Washington scored on a backhand by Devante Smith-pelly and poured it on against Arizona goalie Scott Wedgewood, who stopped 37 of the 40 shots he faced and was one of the best players on the ice.
“He kept us in it,” Fischer said. “Credit goes to him. He bailed us out, and he gave us that point.”
■ At Boston, Jake Debrusk and Frank Vatrano each scored a first-period goal that deflected off a Minnesota player’s skate, and Zdeno Chara and Jordan Szwarz each had two assists for Boston in its third win in its past 11 games against the Wild.
■ Atvancouver, British Columbia, Thomas Tatar notched his 200th NHL point on a go-ahead goal with 1:14 left for Detroit. Daniel Sedin and Michael Del Zotto scored 2:14 apart in the third to rally Vancouver from a 2-0 deficit.
■ At Dallas, Mark Scheifele scored in the opening minute and final seconds, and Blake Wheeler had four assists to back Connor Hellebuyck (8-0-2), who had 33 saves, as Winnipeg improved to 8-1-3 in its past 12 games.
■ At New York, Michael Grabner scored twice for New York, and Mika Zibanejad assisted on three of the Rangers’ four third-period goals as they rallied for their fourth straight victory.
Bruins 5, Wild 3 — Red Wings 3, Canucks 2 — Jets 4, Stars 1 — Rangers 5, Blue Jackets 3 —