The Washington Capitals got some revenge on the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night. The Caps rolled over the Yotes in a 4-0 shutout after losing to them earlier in the season at home.
It wasn’t the prettiest game in the world but it was an easy two points. You’ll take those.
- The Coyotes were really never in this game. Although I love the service they provide dearly, I don’t care that Natural Stat Trick has them recording 10 high-danger chances at five-on-five. They didn’t really threaten the Caps whatsoever. I would have liked a more killer instinct from Washington but they got what they needed to get and got out of there without really getting out of second gear. On to Vegas.
- Dylan Strome scored two goals against his former team. He now has 11 on the season which ties him with Marcus Johansson and Conor Sheary for second on the team. Only he and Alex Ovechkin have reached the 10+ goal, 20+ assist mark for the Caps this year.
- Darcy Kuemper stopped all 27 shots he faced for his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and the 30th of his career. Kuemper absolutely owns his former team, holding a 6-1-3 career record against them with a 1.19 goals-against average, a .952 save percentage, and four of those 30 shutouts.
The Capitals improve to 9-1-0 in their last 10 road games dating back to Dec. 5. During that span, Washington has outscored their opponents 43-20.
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) January 20, 2023
- Tom Wilson and Nicklas Backstrom continue to come along quite well. Wilson scored his second goal of the season and added an assist. Backstrom grabbed the 750th assist of his career on Sonny Milano‘s eighth marker of the season.
- That whole second line continued its hot run analytically as well. In their 8:22 of five-on-five ice time, the Caps held positive differentials in shot attempts (+8), scoring chances (+5), and high-danger chances (+1). That trio is probably the only one that I think head coach Peter Laviolette has right on the money right now.
- Alex Ovechkin is now without a goal for three games. That tends to mean trouble for the next team he faces.
Numbers thanks to Hockey-reference.com and NaturalStatTrick.com.
