Schmaltz Scores Two, Ingram Blanks Capitals as Coyotes Win 5th Straight

STATS

The history books just got a heavy dose of Mullett Magic.

Nick Schmaltz scored twice, Clayton Keller and Alex Kerfoot finished with three points each, and Connor Ingram made 26 saves to earn his second shutout of the season as the Arizona Coyotes beat the Washington Capitals 6-0 on Monday. Arizona (13-9-2) used five first period goals en route to its fifth straight victory, all of which have come against the previous six Stanley Cup champions; Vegas (2023), Colorado (2022), Tampa Bay (2021, 2020), St. Louis (2019), and Washington (2018). The Coyotes became the first team in NHL history to earn five straight victories where all five different opponents during their run were one of the last six Stanley Cup winners.

Mullett Arena was rocking at the final horn on Monday yet again.

"The whole building has a different feel right now," Ingram said. "When you get on a streak like this, this is what people want to see around here. It’s fun to play here right now, the people are into it, and that’s why you play the game."

Logan Cooley, Michael Carcone, Jason Zucker, and Nick Bjugstad also scored for the Coyotes, who close out their homestand against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

Darcy Kuemper allowed three goals on five shots and Charlie Lindgren stopped 19 in relief as the Capitals fell to 12-8-2 on the season. Tuesday's game was the fifth-and-final game of their current road trip, and Washington now returns home to face the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

The Capitals started the game on the attack, so much so that Coyotes head coach André Tourigny said after the game he didn't think they played well early in the first period.

That changed in a hurry, right around the midway point of the opening frame.

Cooley, who grew up cheering for the Capitals in the Pittsburgh area, recorded the game's first goal on the power-play at 8:46 of the first period, taking a pass from Keller and redirecting it past Kuemper. The goal came on Arizona's first shot of the game, the second straight game the Desert Dogs have accomplished that.

Carcone gave Arizona a 2-0 lead just over a minute later, wristing a shot from the high slot past Kuemper. The goal was Carcone’s team-leading 12th goal, he has scored in four consecutive games, and continues to lead the league in shooting percentage at 35.3 percent.

Schmaltz made it 3-0 with Arizona’s second power-play goal of the game, one-timing Keller’s pass from the slot past Kuemper at 14:15. Schmaltz has recorded a power-play goal in three consecutive games, and leads the team with five goals on the man advantage.

"Ingy kept us in it early, and then I thought we were opportunistic in the first," Schmaltz said. "Everything we shot went in."

That marked the end of Kuemper’s night, as he was pulled in favor of backup Charlie Lindgren, but the damage was far from over.

Schmaltz potted his second of the game at 17:13 of the opening frame, snapping a shot from inside the blue line through a screen past Lindgren. Zucker made it 5-0 with just 1:20 left in the frame, scoring his fifth of the season after Alex Kerfoot forced a turnover and found him alone in front of the net.

What started as a slow period ended with the team's first-ever 5-0 lead after one period of play.

"[Washington] came out strong and our goalie made a few saves,"  Tourigny said. "We played with urgency defensively, we struggled with the puck to execute on our breakout, we capitalized on the power play."

Bjugstad made it 6-0 with a shorthanded goal at 16:54 of the second, completing a 2-on-0 with Kerfoot to record Arizona’s first shorty of the season. Ingram shut the door from there, and the 26-year-old netminder has now won five straight starts for the second time this season.

Monday's shutout marked his first game since being named the NHL's first star of the week earlier in the day -- He's now fourth in the league in goals-against average (2.23), third in save percentage (.930), and tied for third in wins (11). Perhaps what was most notable, however, is how the Coyotes continued to block shots late into the game to try and help preserve his shutout bid.

"We wanted to do it for Ingy at the end there," Schmaltz said. "He deserved a shutout."

Ingram said being named first star of the week was a "huge honor," but directed most of the credit to his teammates, who have outscored their opponents 19-5 during the streak.

"I think it’s a team stat, too," he said of the honor. "I think the biggest stat that’s on there is 3-0, and that’s not me doing that.

"I think it’s a team stat, and I think it’s great for everyone around here to get some recognition around here."

The Coyotes close out their homestand on Thursday against the Philadelphia Flyers. Game time is scheduled for 7 pm, and the game will be broadcast on the following networks:

WHERE TO WATCH:
• Antenna: 61.1 Phoenix, 9.2 Tucson
• Phoenix Cable: Cox 95
• Phoenix Satellite: DirecTV Channel 61, Dish Network Channel 61
• Bullhead City / Lake Havasu: Optimum channel 6
• Flagstaff: American Cable channel 4, Optimum Cable channel 6
• Maricopa: Orbitel channel 11
• Pinal County: Mediacom channel 13
• Prescott: Sparklight channel 61
• Sedona: Optimum Cable channel 6
• Show Low / Winslow Sparklight channel 61
• Tucson: Cox channel 85, Xfinity channel 1179, Orbitel channel 208

WHERE TO LISTEN:
• Radio: ESPN 620
• Stream: Arizona Coyotes App, NHL Mobile App