Caps Close October vs. Coyotes

October 29 vs. Arizona Coyotes at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV:NBCSW, NHL Network
Radio: Capitals Radio 24/7, 106.7 FAN
Arizona Coyotes (0-6-1)
Washington Capitals (4-0-3)

The Caps close out a short two-game homestand and the October portion of their 2021-22 schedule on Friday night at Capital One Arena when they host the Arizona Coyotes.
Washington has had the luxury of starting the season with six of its first eight games on home ice, but the rubber will meet the road in November when the Caps play 10 of 15 games away from the District in a busy month that includes a trio of back-to-back games.
With a home-heavy schedule early in the season, the Caps have made some hay. For the third time in franchise history, they've started the season with a seven-game point streak, which is two games shy of the franchise standard of nine (6-0-3) established just last season.
"I said it before, I think it's crucial to get off to a good start," says Caps center Lars Eller. "You don't want to come into December and be chasing a playoff spot. I've seen that before; it's hard. It's crucial to get a good start. The first 20 games are huge.
"Now, we haven't lost [in regulation] yet. There's a lot of things to like about our game, but I think we can take it up a notch as well."
The Caps extended that point streak to seven on Wednesday night in the homestand opener, taking a 3-2 overtime loss from the Detroit Red Wings. All three of the Caps' overtime losses this season have come at home, and they led by a goal going into the third period of two of the three contests, including Wednesday's game against the Wings.
In the aftermath of Wednesday's overtime setback, the loss became even more costly. On Thursday afternoon, the Capitals announced that right wing T.J. Oshie suffered a lower body injury against Detroit and is week-to-week.
Early in the third period, Oshie blocked a slapshot from Detroit defenseman Danny Dekeyser. Despite hobbling off in obvious discomfort, Oshie took six more shifts in the game after absorbing that point blast.
In Wednesday's loss to the Wings, the Caps forged a 2-0 lead on a pair of power-play goals in the game's first 24 minutes, but they weren't able to add to or maintain that advantage.

"At times I think we need to - in a blunt way - not get bored," says Caps center Nic Dowd. "If we have leads, and [Wednesday] night was a good example. We're up 2-0, and that third goal made a huge difference either way."
With a 2-0 lead early in the second, the Caps managed only one shot on net at 5-on-5 over the final 15 minutes of the period. By the time the third period started, the lead was down to 2-1. Detroit drew even in the third minute of the third frame.
"I think we just need to do a better job of approaching the game the same every game," says Dowd, "and being consistent with how we are going to approach and our preparation going into those games. Every NHL team is very capable of winning games, and that includes us.
"We also have to understand that coming into Washington, it's a fun place to play and teams enjoy doing that and they're ready to play. We have to make sure that every single game we're ready to play to our level."
Asked for his thoughts on the season to date after Wednesday's game, Caps coach Peter Laviolette demurred, asking for more time to process and not wanting to react in the immediate aftermath of a game. On Thursday after practice, he fielded the question again.

"There's been a lot of good things," says Laviolette. "If I'm going to look at it and answer it with a positive statement, I think that we could have won every game. I think that we played well enough inside those games to walk away with wins, understanding that it's close - you only have to be a little bit better and do the right things.
"If I want to look at the glass as half empty, I know that there's things that we could have done better. There's been a couple of defensive blunders that have cost us a goal, and a goal might be the difference in the game when you're not in overtime.
"We're working at 5-on-5 play from an offensive standpoint. We're working at specialty teams to be a little bit better. I know that there's things that we could have done better too, where we're not there yet, we've still got to keep working on it.
"There's been a lot of good things, and I think we've had a chance to win every game and we've taken a lot of points. So all of that is a positive, but there are still things that we go in we show [video] or we talk about, or we work with the players or we work with the line to try to be better."
Arizona would also like to be better. The Coyotes are in the middle of a grueling six-game road trip, a journey that started on Monday with a 5-3 loss to the Panthers in Florida and won't end until next Friday when the Desert Dogs visit the Ducks in Anaheim.
Most recently, the Coyotes absorbed a 5-1 loss to the Lightning in Tampa on Thursday night, and they now must face the Caps in Washington on the tail end of back-to-backs. Even worse for Arizona, the team is still seeking its first victory of the season. The Coyotes are 0-6-1 to date and have been outscored by a combined 34-12 in their first seven games.
The Coyotes allowed three goals in a span of 5:02 in the first period in Tampa, and the deficit proved to be too much to overcome against the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs.
After they take on the Coyotes on Friday, the Caps will head south for a two-game trip to face Tampa and Florida, respectively, in the first two of those 10 road contests in November.