GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Washington Capitals had few scoring chances Tuesday night. They made sure the Arizona Coyotes had even fewer opportunities.
Tom Wilson had six of the Capitals’ 41 hits in stifling the Coyotes and Eric Fehr scored the winner in overtime, leading Washington over Arizona 2-1.
"Both teams jammed it up in the neutral zone, so you’re going to end up with a lower scoring game than you’ll see sometimes," Capitals coach Barry Trotz said. "You want to be on the positive end of those."
Fehr put in a rebound at 3:16 of the extra session, getting his stick on a deflected shot from teammate Brooks Orpik and sliding the puck past Arizona goalie Mike Smith to end the game. The Capitals (8-7-3) ended a two-game skid.
The Coyotes (8-9-2) lost a third straight home game and in gut-wrenching fashion. Arizona lost the previous two home games on late goals as well.
The Capitals took a 1-0 lead on Jay Beagle’s shot that got past Smith stick side at 11:11 of the first period. On a 3-on-2 after a missed shot at the other end of the ice, Jason Chimera fed Beagle for the shot from directly in front of the goal.
"When you get those type of opportunities you try to make them count," Beagle said. "We were going to play desperate. We were going to come out and play hard and get two points."
Smith was tested during the Capitals’ lone power play of the first period, with Washington working the puck to star Alex Ovechkin for shot after shot from Smith’s right. But the Capitals were unable to add to their lead.
Smith, with 22 saves, got the start despite three losses in his previous three games in goal. Backup Devan Dubnyk allowed one goal in two wins the past two games, both on the road.
Braden Holtby stopped 23 shots for Washington.
The Coyotes started the second period on a power play, but got their goal seconds after it ended at the 2-minute mark. Sam Gagner drew defenders to his side and delivered a backhanded pass to a wide open Oliver Ekman-Larsson, who deposited the puck into the net with Holtby too far to his left to get back into save position.
Holtby came up big at 15:14 of the period, keeping the score tied at 1 by stopping a point-blank shot from Mikkel Boedker after a pass from Shane Doan during a Coyotes power play.
The Capitals recorded only two shots on goal in the second period, the fewest allowed by the Coyotes in a period this season. Arizona went 0 for 4 on power plays while Washington was 0 for 3.
"We spent too much time in our end in the third period," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We had everybody compete hard and there’s lots of desperation there, and there are just some times you’d like to see us execute a little better."
Coyotes defenceman Michael Stone left the game at 15:46 of the third after he took a puck to the face that drew blood when the puck hit him in the chin. Stone needed stitches but returned for overtime.
NOTES: C Martin Hanzal was a late scratch due to a lower body injury, and along with C Rob Klinkhammer (upper body injury) is day to day. … The Coyotes recalled defenceman David Schlemko from Portland of the American Hockey League earlier on Tuesday, three days after sending him down to Portland. Schlemko got the call with D Brandon Gormley out at least a week with a lower body injury. … F Lucas Lessio, brought up when Schlemko was sent to Portland, made his season debut Tuesday night. … Gagner appeared in his 500th career game, and acknowledged the crowd with a wave when the milestone was announced at Gila River Arena. Gagner, 25, is a former first-round pick who has been in the NHL since 2007 and is the second player from that year’s draft class to reach 500 (Patrick Kane). . Capitals D John Carlson played in his 314th consecutive game, the third-longest stretch in franchise history. … The Capitals’ penalty-kill unit has been successful in 17 of the last 19 opposing power plays.
