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Distressing penalty kill problems: Coyotes beat Caps 4-1

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The Capitals long homestand came to an end Sunday night as they took on an upstart Arizona Coyotes team led behind the bench by former Capital, Rick Tocchet. Could the Caps be the Road Runner to Tocchet’s Yotes and head out to Minny and Winny on a high note?

Vinnie Hinostroza, after preparing your sfogliatelle, opened scoring on a Coyotes man advantage late in the first. Richard Panik doubled the Arizonan lead with another rush goal midway through the second. Nicklas Backstrom, with his kids in attendance, opened scoring for the Caps only seconds later. Alex Galchenyuk restored the two goal lead with another power play strike.

Derek Stepan empty netter. Shudders.

Coyotes beat Caps 4-1.

  • That first period was more boring than Saturday morning detention in high school and the Caps made it worse by committing seemingly the entire team to an offensive rush on a penalty kill. Said rush led to a Coyotes lead after twenty minutes as I believe having three players below Darcy Kuemper‘s red line could be a non-effective penalty killing strategy.
  • That first period was like the first half an hour of an awkward middle school dance.
  • That first period was like having to watch a 24-hour marathon of Antique Roadshow.
  • That first period was like having to watch this year’s Washington Wizards. Okay, I’m done. Promise.

  • Look at papa Nicklas Backstrom make his son Vince a very happy child by handing him his very own piece of vulcanized rubber. Dad strength Dadstrom opened the scoring for the Caps with both of his kids in arena.
  • The Caps penalty kill is bleeding goals against with another two Sunday night. It’s a mix of bad goaltending, strange aggressiveness, bad timing, bad luck, and a confusing set up. It just isn’t good and needs to be tweaked and yes I know Tom Wilson and Brooks Orpik have not been playing.
  • The Caps actually had a fairly great second period at even strength, but as I said previously the only thing their penalty kill is killing at the moment is their chance of winning hockey games. Add that to getting shutout on power plays of their own and you get tonight’s result more often than not.
  • Lets harp on said special teams some more because I’m feeling cranky. A lot of the issues discussed above can be negated by just staying out of the box. The Caps took a ridiculous three offensive zone penalties in this game, one being a high sticking double minor. That’s the exact opposite of what you should be doing with a struggling penalty kill or just generally in hockey.

  • Believe it or not, I think this was one of the better games the Caps have played at five-on-five this season. I like the changes to the top-six. Lets rock with this for a little while, eh Todd?
  • Today’s Caps Twitter debate was about lettuce on sandwiches. I think it’s great, especially if you throw a little salt on it beforehand. What say you, comments?

The Caps now head westward to begin a four game stretch on the road. I will play some more Red Dead Redemption 2 to get a feel of what they could encounter out there and will report back.

Full RMNB Coverage of Caps vs Coyotes

Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington

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