Ovechkin scores for Capitals in shutout, Coyotes lose eighth in row

WASHINGTON-- Alex Ovechkin extended his season-opening point streak to eight games with a goal and an assist for the Washington Capitals in a 2-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Capital One Arena on Friday.

Ovechkin scored NHL goal No. 739 into an empty net with 21 seconds remaining. The forward had an assist on John Carlson's third-period power-play goal to tie the Washington point-streak record he set as a rookie in 2005-06 and forward Alexander Semin matched in 2006-07.
Ovechkin has scored 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in eight games and is two goals from tying Brett Hull for fourth in NHL history. The 36-year-old matched his 2009-10 season for fewest number of games needed to score 15 points and is tied with Connor McDavid of Edmonton for the NHL lead.
"I don't think it's a surprise," Carlson said. "He's only done it for 17 other years too. So maybe he had one down year out of 17 or whatever it is. So, no, there's no surprise from us."

Evgeny Kuznetsov had two assists, and Ilya Samsonov made 16 saves for the Capitals (5-0-3), whose season-opening point streak is the second longest in their history (6-0-3 last season). It was Samsonov's fourth NHL shutout in his 49 games.
"I don't think our guys were frustrated (after two periods), but sometimes you try to do more than you should and get outside of what is working for you," Washington coach Peter Laviolette said. "So just staying on point and keeping the pedal down inside of the structure and inside of the system and guys did a really good job."
Karel Vejmelka made 30 saves for the Coyotes (0-7-1), who lost 5-1 at Tampa Bay on Thursday.
"It's bittersweet. It's a lot of good things [tonight], but again, we're not in this business to get moral victories," Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said. "But we need to see the positive and see that it's coming. We're playing better."

With Samsonov sprawled to his right after making a save, Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk blocked Christian Fischer's shot from the slot with his skate at 5:55 of the third period. Carlson made it 1-0 when he scored on a wrist shot through a screen from above the right circle at 12:02.
"I saw just the [pass] on the blue line and he went to shoot, so I just tried to find the puck and I lost it when he shot it," Vejmelka said. "It was a good shot and it was a good screen by the player in front of me."
NOTES: The Coyotes have scored five goals over their past five games and have been shut out twice. ... Kuznetsov has scored 12 points (five goals, seven assists). ... Capitals forward Brett Leason played 8:40 with one shot on goal and one blocked shot in his NHL debut. … Capitals forward Nic Dowd, who fell during the morning skate and left the ice, did not play and has missed two of the past three games because of a lower-body injury. Laviolette did not have an update on Dowd after the game.