Dylan Strome scored two goals as the Washington Capitals defeated the Arizona Coyotes 4-0 on Thursday night in Tempe, Ariz.
Washington goalie Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves for his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and 30th of his career.
Tom Wilson had a goal and an assist for the Capitals, who have won nine of their last 10 road games. Washington’s Sonny Milano also scored, and Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov each had two assists.
Karel Vejmelka made 29 saves for the Coyotes, who have lost 10 of 11. Vejmelka has lost each of his past eight starts.
Strome, who began his NHL career with the Coyotes, gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first period when he set up in the slot and deflected Orlov’s one-timer from the point past Vejmelka.
Lars Eller appeared to increase the lead to 2-0 at 5:21 of the second period when he knocked in the rebound of Nick Jensen’s shot. However, the Coyotes challenged the play for goaltender interference, and after a video review, the goal was disallowed.
The Capitals broke it open with two goals in 69 seconds late in the middle period.
Milano made 2-0 when he converted a pass across the slot from Wilson at 17:32. Nicklas Backstrom picked up the secondary assist, his 750th NHL assist.
Backstrom is the 46th player in NHL history with at least 750 assists. The only other active players on that list are Joe Thornton, Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane.
Wilson increased the lead to 3-0 at 18:41 when deflected Orlov’s power-play shot from the point and the puck trickled in.
Barrett Hayton appeared to pull the Coyotes within 3-1 at 1:39 of the third period, but the Capitals challenged the play for offsides, and the goal was overturned.
Strome made it 4-0 at 8:41 of the third period. Kuznetsov got the rebound of Marcus Johansson’s shot in the slot and made a pretty pass to Strome, who scored into the open net from the right post before Vejmelka could get over.
Arizona was 0-for-3 on the power play while Washington went 1-for-4.
–Field Level Media
