Washington gets win after early 2-0 deficit Down by a pair of goals in the second period of a home game against the Phoenix Coyotes, the Capitals had to wonder what was happening to their season.
The wheels had already come off after a perfect seven-game start and now, after a 3-7-1 stretch over 11 games, they found themselves trailing again thanks to a short-handed goal and a penalty shot. But invigorated by a Matt Hendricks fight late in the first period and a John Carlson goal midway through the second period, Washington fought back to earn a much-needed 4-3 victory at Verizon Center on Monday.
Rookie forward Cody Eakin tied the game just 3 minutes, 9 seconds after Carlson’s goal and Nicklas Backstrom and Brooks Laich also tallied for the Caps (11-7-1, 23 points), who snapped a four-game winless streak. Phoenix (10-6-3, 23 points) received two goals from Lauri Korpikoski, including one with 11:28 to go that cut the advantage to 4-3. But Washington held on down the stretch to preserve two critical standings points.
“We’ve got a lot of leaders in this room. A lot of guys say the right things,” said Hendricks, who bloodied the nose of Coyotes forward Kyle Chipchura in a fight with 54 seconds left in the first period that got the Caps’ bench going. “It’s a matter of getting everyone on the same page and doing the right things. You can talk about things as much as you want. Until we go out and execute, we’re not going to get the results.”
Laich’s 5-on-3 power-play goal at 7:06 of the third period proved to be the game winner. More important, it snapped an ugly 0-for-28 skid on the power play and could give Washington some confidence heading in that area heading into Wednesday’s home game against Winnipeg.
Radim Vrbata scored the short-handed goal for Phoenix at 4:33 of the first period thanks in large part to a botched pass attempt by Carlson. Korpikoski was hooked by Washington defenseman Dennis Wideman on yet another short-handed break in the second period, and he rifled the ensuing penalty shot past Caps goalie Tomas Vokoun (20 saves).
Caps coach Bruce Boudreau scratched forward Alexander Semin — the first time that’s happened to the talented right wing since his rookie season in 2003-04 — and inserted Mathieu Perreault into the lineup. A secondary assist by Alex Ovechkin snapped a four-game pointless streak, which was tied for the longest of the star winger’s career. It’s only happened twice since his rookie year in 2005-06. Boudreau, meanwhile, recorded career win No. 200.
“I would have traded 199 of them for that one [Monday],” Boudreau said. “When you don’t win for any length of time, it gets tougher. So it came at a good time.”
