March 3 vs. Arizona Coyotes at Capital One Arena
Time: 1:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Stream: MonSports.net/Stream
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
Arizona Coyotes (24-31-5)
Washington Capitals (28-22-9)
Less than 48 hours after perhaps their most important victory of the season, the Caps are back in action with a Sunday matinee match against the Arizona Coyotes at Capital One Arena. Sunday’s contest concludes a two-game homestand for the Caps, who opened with a 5-2 comeback win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night.
After falling into a 2-0 hole with a somnambulant first period performance, the Caps perked up and showed up over the game’s final 40 minutes, getting five unanswered goals off of five different sticks, starting with Caps’ captain Alex Ovechkin’s goal early in the second period, his 17th of the season and the 839th of his NHL career.
Ovechkin’s goal was his 145th in the month of March in his career (245 March games), moving him past Wayne Gretzky (144 March goals in 260 games) for the NHL’s all-time lead.
Washington scored its five goals on just 16 shots in the game’s final 40 minutes; it was the Caps’ first instance of scoring five unanswered goals in a game in almost a year, since March 23, 2023. Friday’s victory also marked the third time this season that the Caps rallied from a 2-0 hole to win.
“I think we turned the puck over when we were trying to dump it in probably five or six times on its own [in the first period],” says Caps’ defenseman John Carlson. “So right there, you're killing momentum and you’re fueling what they're good at. And we had way too many of those, and then trying to do too much in the offensive zone, instead of just taking what's given.
“And we just settled down and start skating more I agree. We simplified at first, and skated more, and got more pucks behind them and made it harder on them.”
Friday’s win pulled the Caps to within four points of Philadelphia for third place in the Metro Division standings, a guaranteed playoff spot. The Caps also hold two games in hand on the Flyers, and the two teams meet once more in Philadelphia, in the April 16 regular season finale for both clubs.
Washington is now 6-2-2 in its last 10 games.
The Caps practiced on Saturday morning at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and news broke just ahead of that session, news that the NHL and NHLPA had released Caps’ center Evgeny Kuznetsov to the follow-up phase of the Players’ Assistance Program. That news cleared Kuznetsov to return to practice with the team, but soon afterwards, the Caps placed the 31-year-old center on waivers.
The waiver period ends at 2 p.m. on Sunday, and at that time, Washington will learn whether or not any of the League’s other 31 clubs has claimed Kuznetsov and his contract, which has a season remaining after the current one. Kuznetsov’s annual salary cap hit is $7.8 million.
“I think it’s about a fresh start for Kuzy, first of all,” says Caps’ general manager and president of hockey operations Brian MacLellan, of Saturday’s decision. “I think he has been looking for a change in environment, and this might set the wheels in motion for that to be accomplished.”
Until the waiver period ends – sometime in the second period of Sunday’s game with the Coyotes – Kuznetsov’s situation is on hold. MacLellan noted a number of possibilities for the team and the center going forward, should he go unclaimed. Washington would assign him to AHL Hershey in that event, but MacLellan also stated that the team would be willing to retain salary to help facilitate a trade. Washington could also exercise a buyout of the final year of his contract this summer. Kuznetsov could even find himself suiting up and playing for the Capitals again at some point over these final 23 games of the regular season.
“I think we have a history here that’s gone on for a while,” says MacLellan. “And I think it’s frustrating on both sides. So it’s just an opportunity for our side too to start fresh, and to try to get him an opportunity to continue his career.”
Asked specifically about the possibility of a buyout, MacLellan didn’t rule it out, but it’s not a possibility until summer.
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” he says. “Right now, we have a trade deadline on Friday. So we’re looking to see if we can make something happen before then and go from there.”
MacLellan was also asked if he could envision a situation in which Kuznetsov plays for Washington again.
“I could, yes. Yeah,” says MacLellan. “I think he’s got to get some stuff in his personal life straightened out, and I think playing-wise, too. I think he needs to find the level that he’s accustomed to playing at, and going down [to Hershey] and working at it, or playing in another organization. I don’t know how he finds it. But I think it’s important for him.”
Washington drafted Kuznetsov with its first choice (26th overall) in the 2010 NHL Draft. Kuznetsov remained in his native Russia playing in the KHL until almost exactly a decade ago; he arrived in North America following the 2013-14 KHL season, coming to the District in March of 2014 as a 21-year-old. He made his NHL debut on March 10, 2014 against Pittsburgh.
Now in his 11th NHL season, Kuznetsov has totaled 171 goals and 397 assists for 568 points in 723 career NHL games, and he ranks among the franchise’s all-time top 10 in a number of offensive categories. His best season was the Caps’ Stanley Cup-winning campaign of 2017-18 when he amassed 27 goals and 83 points in 79 games. He followed up with a stellar postseason that spring, putting up a dozen goals, 20 assists and 32 points; he led the entire NHL in each of the last two categories during the 2018 playoffs.
Most notably, Kuznetsov scored the Game 6 overtime game-winning goal against Pittsburgh that spring, a goal that vanquished the Penguins – who were trying to win a third straight Cup – and pushed the Caps to the Conference Final round for just then third time in franchise history.
Kuznetsov’s points per game rate declined in each of his next three seasons, but he returned to form with 24 goals and 78 points in 79 games in 2021-22. His production declined again last season, and it dropped precipitously this season before he entered the Player Assistance Program early last month.
In 43 games with Washington this season, Kuznetsov managed just six goals and 17 points, this despite ranking second among the team’s forwards in average ice time per game (18:47). Of the 67 NHL forwards with at least 40 games played and 18:45 or more in nightly average ice time this season, Kuznetsov’s total of 17 points ranks 67th.
Sunday’s game concludes a five-game trip for the Coyotes, and the journey finale in the District is the only U.S. stop on the trip. Arizona ended a lengthy dry spell between victories on Friday night in Ottawa when it downed the Sens by a 5-3 count to halt a 14-game losing skid (0-12-2). The Coyotes had been winless since a Jan. 22 victory over Pittsburgh, and they were outscored by a combined total of 64-33 during the life of their losing streak. Arizona’s Friday night victory in Ottawa also ended the Coyotes’ 11-game road slide (0-9-2).
When the Coyotes blanked the Capitals 6-0 in Arizona on Dec. 4, they hit their high-water mark for the season (13-9-2). That victory over Washington almost three months ago gave the Coyotes a five-game winning streak, with each of the victories coming against teams that won the Stanley Cup since 2018. Since that triumph, the Coyotes have won just 11 of their last 36 games (11-22-3), and they appear headed for an 11th playoff miss in the last dozen seasons. The Coyotes are 5-17-3 since the calendar flipped to 2024.
