| Predicted Goaltender | Record | GAA / SV% | |
| Washington Capitals | Ilya Samsonov | 4-0-3 | 3.31 / .885 |
| Arizona Coyotes | Karel Vejmelka | 0-6-1 | 3.15 / .899 |
To round out the last week of October, the Washington Capitals will take on the Arizona Coyotes, one of two teams who have yet to tally a win this season. For the Coyotes, it is a game that will be the tail-end of a back-to-back.
On Wednesday, the Washington Capitals fell to the Detroit Red Wings in overtime by a score of 3-2. Nic Dowd made his return to the lineup after missing the last handful of games, and as a result, Daniel Sprong was a healthy scratch. Both Connor McMichael and Hendrix Lapierre dressed for the Capitals, and Vitek Vanecek got his 4th start of the season.
Just 23 seconds into the first period, Dmitry Orlov was called for tripping and so the Caps were forced to kill off an early penalty. Lucky for Washington, the Red Wings 23rd ranked power play did not convert. With the first period winding down, Sam Gagner of the Red Wings was called for tripping, too, and so the Caps got their first opportunity with the man-advantage. At the 19:05 mark, Alex Ovechkin potted his 8th of the season on a follow-up attempt, giving the Caps a 1-0 lead.
But Nic Dowd would go off with four seconds remaining in the period for cross-checking, and so Detroit began the 2nd period on the power play.
The Capitals would kill off Detroit’s second power play, and would earn another opportunity four minutes into the 2nd as Danny DeKeyer went off for hooking. Four seconds in and right off the face-off, Evgeny Kuznetsov would score his 5th of the season, also on the power play, to make it 2-0, Caps.
Kuznetsov tallied just 9 goals in 41 games last season. In 2021-22, he has five goals and five assists in seven games. Adam Erne however would cut the Caps lead in half at the 9:17 mark as he would score for Detroit with his 2nd of the year.
Troy Stetcher went off for tripping at the 10:39 mark, but the Caps power play would not convert. Robby Fabbri then scored the game-tying goal for the Red Wings at the 2:03 mark of the third period.
Despite a number of great looks by Washington, and a fourth power play with just under 10 minutes remaining, the guys in red weren’t able to break the tie. A five-minute sudden-death overtime period was needed to make out a winner in this one. Just 97 seconds in, Dylan Larkin, along with Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider, scored the OT game-winner to tally their teams’ 4th win of the season.
Red Wings goaltender Thomas Greiss ended his night with 26 saves on 28 shots and posted his 3rd win.
Heading into their match against Tampa, the Arizona Coyotes had yet to win a game. Unfortunately for Arizona, their losing streak was extended to six games as they lost 5-1 to the Lightning.
Right off the opening faceoff, Tampa forward Pat Maroon and former Cap Liam O’Brien exchanged pleasantries as they dropped the mitts. Both received five-minute majors for fighting. Arizona was challenged with their first penalty kill at 2:57 as Ilya Lyubushkin went off for high sticking. Though they killed the penalty, just five minutes and 39 seconds into the first, Alex Killorn scored his 5th of the season to give Tampa a 1-0 lead. The Lightning were still looking for their first home win of the year. Then, just two minutes later, Killorn tallied a second goal to make it 2-0. Andrew Ladd was called for cross-checking at the 9:34 mark, giving Tampa another power-play opportunity. This time, Steven Stamkos would score, his 5th of the season, to improve the Bolts lead to 3-0. Pat Maroon decided to change his attention to Lawson Crouse, and both were assessed penalties, albeit of differing variations (Maroon; 2 min instigator, 5 min fighting)(Crouse; 2 min boarding, 5 min fighting). The Coyotes received their first power play as Ondrej Palat went off for interference. Arizona’s 26th ranked power play did not convert.
Dysin Mayo went off for hooking at the 4:57 mark of the second period, but lucky for Arizona, Tampa did not score. Alex Barre-Boulet scored his first goal as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 13:38 mark to make it 4-0, Bolts. It seemed unlikely that the Coyotes would dig themselves out of the hole they dug.
At the 12:40 mark of the 3rd period, with the final moments winding down of an almost inevitable shutout win for Tampa, Lawson Crouse scored. The goal made it 4-1, with the Lightning in the lead, but was Crouse’s 2nd of the season.
Andrej Sustr tallied his first of the season with under 2 minutes remaining in the game, making it 5-1. With Killorn’s assist on the goal, Alex put forth a three-point performance. More than half of Arizona’s roster put up negative +/- ratings, and goaltender Ivan Provetov gave up 5 goals on 28 shots.
The Coyotes remain winless through their first 6 games, and have earned just one point in the league standings.
The Coyotes are without goaltender Carter Hutton (IR-lower body), Alex Galchenyuk (IR-upper body), Ryan Dzingel (IR-upper body), Kyle Capobianco (IR-lower body), Nick Schmaltz (DTD-upper body), and Conor Timmins (IR-lower body).
Kassie’s Noteworthy Remarks
- Alex Ovechkin, scored his 8th goal in seven games vs the Red Wings, and is three goals shy of tying Brett Hull for 4th on the All-Time Goals list.
- With Arizona’s struggles, scoring an average of just 1.83 goals per game and allowing 4.83 goals against, it is likely Ilya Samsonov will start between the pipes for Washingon.
- Nicklas Backstrom was a full participant in the Capitals practice on Thursday. TJ Oshie, however, is listed as week-to-week with a lower body injury and was seen on crutches with a walking boot.
The Washington Capitals and Arizona Coyotes will play on Friday, October 29th, at 7:00 EST, and can be seen on NBC Sports Washington and Bally Sports Arizona.
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