Ovechkin stuck two from 700, Capitals lose to Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz.-- Alex Ovechkin remained two goals from 700 for a fourth straight game, and the Washington Capitals lost to the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 at Gila River Arena on Saturday.

Ovechkin had 17 shot attempts, with eight shots on goal, but has not scored since No. 698 on Feb. 4. It is his longest goal drought this season.
"Yeah, lots of chances. Obviously, it didn't go in, but I think we have pretty good chances to score," the forward said. "Obviously, Antti Raanta] made some pretty good saves, and nothing you can do right now."
***[WATCH: [All Capitals vs. Coyotes highlights]*
Phil Kessel scored a tiebreaking power-play goal in the third period for the Coyotes (29-24-8), who were 1-3-1 in their previous five games. Arizona leads the Nashville Predators by three points for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.
"It's a big win here and they're one of the best in the League," Arizona forward Christian Dvorak said. "We know how we have to play to win and we showed that."

Carl Hagelin scored, and Braden Holtby made 27 saves for the Capitals (37-16-5), who had won four straight on the road. Washington leads the Pittsburgh Penguins by three points for first place in the Metropolitan Division.
"We're getting some chances, hitting some posts," Capitals coach Todd Reirden said. "Right now, we're just not finding the back of the net."
Dvorak worked a give-and-go with Conor Garland before giving the Coyotes a 1-0 lead at 7:06 of the second period. Hagelin made it 1-1 off a rebound at 17:10.
Kessel's second goal in 12 games gave Arizona a 2-1 lead at 5:25 of the third. He redirected Jakob Chychrun's shot-pass from the left point. Lawson Crouse scored into an empty net with 28 seconds remaining for the 3-1 final.
Ovechkin is trying to become the eighth player to score 700 NHL goals.
"Of course, you want to get it over with and move forward, but ... if you didn't score, you just move it forward," he said. "You can't be focusing and thinking like, 'Oh, I didn't score. It's over.' Sooner or later it will come."

Washington is 21-7-1 on the road, the best record in the NHL. Ovechkin has 40 goals in 57 games, with 23 goals in 28 road games.
"Everybody in this building knew that he is two short from 700, and obviously I don't want to be in those highlights when he scores 700," Raanta said. "He hit one post and there were a couple of lucky saves, so you take those."
With the last line change at home, Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet used the fourth line of Carl Soderberg, Brad Richardson and Christian Fischer almost exclusively against the Capitals line of Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson.
"Everybody contributed to it, and the Richardson line shut down one of the best lines in hockey," Tocchet said.
Ovechkin has 33 shot attempts without a goal in his past two games. He had 14 goals in the seven games before the drought began.
"If I had his kind of shot, I would shoot it at least that many times a game. It's no wonder he has 698 goals in this league," Raanta said. "He's an unbelievable player, so obviously it's nice to keep him off the score sheet."

They said it

"Sometimes it just goes in, sometimes you just hit the post or you miss the wide-open net. Pretty good chances and you just have to stick with it. Obviously, I would be (mad) if I don't have any chances, but it's OK. It's going to come." -- Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin on goal No. 700
"He can get a shot off at any angle. I've never seen anything like it. I've seen some of the greatest shooters and played against some of the greatest shooters but, somehow, I don't know how he gets his shot off so quick." -- Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet on Alex Ovechkin

Need to know

Washington is 3-5-0 in its past eight games after going 7-2-0 in its previous nine. ... Arizona was 3-8-4 in its previous 15 games. The Coyotes are 6-1-3 in their past 10 home games. ... Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson played his 714th game to move into fourth in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history.

What's next

Capitals: At the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday (6 p.m. ET; NHLN, SN, ATTSN-RM, NBCSWA, NHL.TV)
Coyotes: Host the New York Islanders on Monday (4 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-A PLUS, MSG+, NHL.TV)