Coyotes at Capitals
Both teams will be looking to snap three-game winless streaks when the road-weary Arizona Coyotes visit the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Arizona has managed only one victory in its last seven contests, scoring just 10 goals in that span, after getting blanked 3-0 at Carolina on Saturday to drop to 0-4-1 on the road. The Capitals suffered a 4-3 defeat at Tampa Bay on Saturday despite registering 38 shots, but captain Alex Ovechkin ended a five-game point drought with an assist.
Washington has lost three straight games and four of its last five after going unbeaten during the first five contests of the season (3-0-2). “The worst thing you can do as a team is focus on the negatives, and for us, the positives are we’re playing well,” Capitals forward Troy Brouwer told the Washington Post. Defensemen Keith Yandle and Oliver Ekman-Larsson pace the Coyotes in scoring while blue-liner Mike Green is tied for the lead with Washington.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, CSN Washington
ABOUT THE COYOTES (3-6-1): One of the things the Coyotes must change is their play in the first period, when they have given up a league-high 14 goals while scoring six times. Mikkel Boedker collected five goals in the first three games of the season but since has gone seven without a point while posting a minus-3 rating. Offseason acquisition Sam Gagner is without a goal and captain Shane Doan has netted just one for an offense that sits 27th in the league in even-strength tallies (12).
ABOUT THE CAPITALS (4-4-2): Ovechkin is mired in a six-game slump without a goal but could be ready to break out after recording a total of 13 shots in his last two contests. Nicklas Backstrom and rookie Andre Burakovsky share the team lead in points with Green at eight, while Ovechkin and defenseman John Carlson have seven apiece. Braden Holtby (3-3-1), who made 25 saves at Tampa Bay on Saturday, could give way to Justin Peters (1-1-1) on the second of a back-to-back.
OVERTIME
1. The Capitals (third) and Arizona are both among the top five in the league in power-play percentage.
2. Washington C Brooks Laich has missed five straight games with an upper-body injury and is questionable for Sunday.
3. The teams split a pair of games last season, with Washington winning at home and the Coyotes posting a shootout victory in Arizona.