Coyotes face Caps seeking second straight win (Nov 06, 2017)
WASHINGTON -- The Arizona Coyotes travel to Washington on Monday night looking for their first back-to-back wins of the season.
The struggling Coyotes (2-12-1) defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 in a shootout on Saturday for their first home win of the season.
After opening 0-10-1, Arizona won for the second time in four games after Carolina forced overtime with 2:25 left in regulation.
"Well, it is nice," Coyotes coach Rich Tocchet said. "We have some work in progress, but I thought the guys for the most part did a nice job. We just have to learn at the end to make that right play at the right time.
"I'm happy we won, put it that way. We still have to learn from our mistakes."
Arizona's Clayton Keller scored his 10th goal midway through the second period for a 1-0 lead and also converted his attempt in the shootout. Keller, the NHL Rookie of the Month in October, has 12 points in his past nine games and leads first-year players with 16 points in 15 games.
Winger Max Domi (one goal, nine assists) is the only other Coyote in double figures in points.
Goaltender Antti Raanta (1-2-1, 3.12 goals-against average) made 35 saves in his first victory with the Coyotes after coming over in the offseason. He made his second straight start after missing nine games with a lower-body injury.
"When you win a game, you don't feel anything," Raanta told the Arizona Sentinel. "You just feel great. They had a good push and in overtime they got a couple of faceoff plays where they got their chances. Other than that, I felt really good. I was dialed in, moving around really well today."
The Coyotes scored the first goal in 11 of their 15 games.
Washington (7-6-1) posted a 3-2 win in Boston on Saturday. The Capitals posted two consecutive victories for the first time since the first two games of the season.
Both wins came on the backs of Washington's third line: center Lars Eller and wingers Tom Wilson and Chandler Stephenson. Against the Bruins, Wilson scored his first two goals of the season.
"(We) just kind of found a new kind of chemistry that's been clicking," Wilson said.
Eller, who has seven points in the past four games, scored two goals, Stephenson had two assists and Wilson added one Thursday night in a 4-3 win over the New York Islanders, a result ended Washington's three-game home losing streak. The line has 12 points in four games.
"The whole line is playing well. I like what they're doing," Capitals coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post. "Number one is they're working. Above everything else, they're just working, and they're big bodies and good players.
"Right now, I can play them against anybody, which is a real good feeling as a coach."
Alex Ovechkin scored Washington's other goal against Boston, ending a five-game streak without a goal with his 11th of the season.
Washington's new-found depth is making up for injuries to forwards Andre Burakovsky and Brett Connolly and the fact the Nicklas Backstrom has no goals and one assist in his past seven games and T.J. Oshie has one goal and one assist in his past seven.
Ovechkin has six goals and nine assists in 15 career games against the Coyotes. Braden Holbty (7-3-0, 2.70 goals-against average) is 3-1 with a 2.54 GAA vs. Arizona.
Raanta is 1-1 with a 2.59 GAA against Washington.
