A pair of former Desert Dogs bit the hand that once fed them on Thursday night in Tempe, helping the Caps to a 4-0 whitewash win over the Arizona Coyotes in Washington's first ever visit to Mullett Arena, the Coyotes' new and temporary home.
Caps Open Trip with Whitewash Win
Kuemper stops all 26 shots and Strome strikes twice as pair of ex-Desert Dogs bite the hand that once fed them
Darcy Kuemper stopped 26 shots to earn his league-leading fifth shutout of the season, and the fourth of his career against his former employers. Former Coyote Dylan Strome supported Kuemper's effort with a pair of goals; his goal early in the first turned out to be the only support Kuemper would require, but Strome put a coda on the scoring with his second of the night midway through the third period.
Neither Strome nor Kuemper were gloating much after having the upper hand on their former club in Thursday's game.
"I think it's more about our team," says Strome. "Tough loss [to Minnesota] last game, so just nice to come on the road and start the road trip off on the right foot. I guess doing it against your old team is a bit of a bonus."
Kuemper's shutout was the 30th of his NHL career, and four of them have come against the Coyotes, in just 10 starts (6-1-3).
"I don't think it's about biting them or anything like that," says Kuemper. "I really enjoyed my time here and I like coming back, a lot of good memories. I think I'm just feeling good when I'm out there."
Strome started off the scoring on Thursday night, giving Washington an early lead on his second shift of the game. Eleven seconds after winning an offensive zone draw, Strome deflected Dmitry Orlov's one-time drive from the right point to give the Caps a 1-0 lead at 3:03 of the first.
The Caps turned in another stingy defensive performance in the first 20 minutes, holding the Coyotes without a shot for just under 10 minutes in the middle of the frame. Washington held a 24-7 advantage in first period shot attempts, and the average distance of Arizona's seven first-period shots was 54 feet. But Kuemper faced more shot volume and shots of a higher quality as the night wore on.
Lars Eller briefly appeared to give Washington a 2-0 lead shortly after the five-minute mark of the second period, but Arizona issued a successful coach's challenge for goaltender interference to keep the Coyotes within a goal.
Later in the middle frame, the Caps did double their advantage on the forecheck. Down low along the goal line on the left side of the Arizona net, Nicklas Backstrom stripped a puck from a Coyotes skater, bumping it to Tom Wilson, who was a bit closer to the cage. Wilson quickly fed Sonny Milano on the weak side, and he struck from the bottom of the right circle to make it a 2-0 game at 17:32.
"I was just in the right spot at the right time," says Milano. "Those two really did all the work. I got the puck back on the forecheck, and just got it off my stick as quick as I could."
Before the middle period was over, the Caps extended their lead with a second deflection of a point shot. Once again it was Orlov pulling the trigger, but this time the shot came from center point and Wilson tipped the puck home from the bumper spot, putting Washington up 3-0 at 18:41.
Arizona opened the third period on the power play, and the Yotes appeared to have broken Kuemper's shutout spell at 1:39 when Barrett Hayton got the puck behind Kuemper. But the Caps then issued a successful coach's challenge of their own, correctly alleging that Arizona was offside on the entry, and keeping the sheet clean for Kuemper.
After taking a pair of penalties in the third, Strome came out of the box and scored his second of the night, 11 seconds after his second sentence was up. This time, he took a feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov and scored from the bottom of the circle on the right side at 8:41.
Arizona kept the heat on in the third, pouring 12 of its 26 shots on Kuemper in the final frame. He made one of his best saves of the night just ahead of Strome's second goal, stopping Jeff Chychrun's shot to keep the Coyotes off the board.
Thursday's win was Washington's ninth in its last 10 road games.
Washington turned in another strong 60-minute performance on Thursday, but it got the desired result this time. The Caps entered the game with four losses in their last six games, and they probably played well enough to win in three of those setbacks.
"I thought it was good," says Caps coach Peter Laviolette. "They had their moments. When we made a couple of turnovers in the defensive zone they pressed us a little bit. They had good looks on the power play; the one got called back. I thought it was good to follow up the [4-3 win over the Isles on Monday] with the Minny game, even though we didn't get the result. And then tonight, a lot of good things. I thought the lines played well again tonight."
