Capitals Fall To Coyotes, 5-2; Sonny Milano Scores 4th Goal In Last Six Games, Anthony Mantha Scores 20th Goal Of The Season


Photo: X/@Capitals

The Washington Capitals fell to the Arizona Coyotes, 5-2, Sunday afternoon at Capital One Arena in the District. The loss drops the Capitals record to 28-23-9 (65 points) on the season.

The Coyotes opened the scoring midway through the initial frame on Logan Cooley’s 10th goal of the season and held the 1-0 into the first intermission.

The Coyotes made it 2-0 early in the middle frame before Sonny Milano struck on the power play to make it 2-1. Unfortunately the Coyotes restores their two-goal lead just 43 seconds later. The Coyotes added a late power play goal to make it 4-1 at the second intermission.

The Capitals closed the gap to 4-2 seconds into the final frame with a power play goal from Anthony Mantha. But that was it for the Caps. Arizona added an empty net goal for the 5-2 final.

LINEUP

Charlie Lindgren (13-9-5, 2.82 GAA, .908 sv%) got the start between the pipes for the Capitals. Karel Vajmelka (7-15-2, 3.59 GAA, .894 sv%) got the start in goal for the visiting Coyotes. The starting forward lines and defensive pairs for the Capitals:

Alex Ovechkin – Hendrix Lapierre – Tom Wilson
Mac Pacioretty – Dylan Strome – Sonny Milano
Aliaksei Protas – Connor McMichael – Anthony Mantha
Beck Malenstyn – Mike Sgarbossa – Nicolas Aube-Kubel-Kubel

Rasmus Sandin – John Carlson
Joel Edmundson – Nick Jensen
Alex Alexeyev – Trevor van Riemsdyk

Scratches:Ethan Bear, Pierrick Dube, Ivan Miroshnichenko, T.J. Oshie (upper-body injury, week-to-week), Nic Dowd (upper-body injury, day-to-day), Martin Fehervary (injury), Evgeny Kuznetsov (placed on waivers), Nicklas Backstrom (hip).

1ST PERIOD

Arizona opened the scoring midway through the opening frame on Logan Cooley’s 10th goal of the season at 7:33.

The Coyotes had a second goal waived-off late in the period due to goaltender interference.

Arizona held the 1-o lead into the first intermission. They led in five-on-five shot attempts, 20-14 in the first frame.

2ND PERIOD

The Coyotes stretched their lead to 2-0 early in the middle frame. Jason Zucker (9) scored the power play tally at 4:06 of the middle frame.

But the Capitals would answer. Sonny Milano notched his fourth goal in the last six game, this time on the power play to make it 2-1 at 6:02 of the second period. Alex Ovechkin (28) and Rasmus Sandin (17) had the helpers.

But the Coyotes quickly restored their two-goal lead just 43 seconds later on Michael Kesselring’s 5th goal of the season at 6:45.

The Coyotes extended their lead to 4-1 late in the middle frame on a power play goal from Dylan Guenther (8) at 18:01.

The second period concluded with the Coyotes in firm control, 4-1. The Coyotes led in five-on-five shot attempts, 17-5.

3RD PERIOD

The Capitals halved the Coyotes lead just 10 seconds into the final frame on Anthony Martha’s 20th goal of the season, this one on the power play. Dylan Strome (25) had the lone assist.

But that would be it, as the Coyotes shut the door for the remainder of the period, added an empty net goal, holding on for the 5-2 victory.

SHAVINGS (via Capitals PR)

  • Sonny Milano scored his eighth goal of the season on the power play to cut the deficit to 2-1. Milano has scored a goal in his last three games played.
  • Anthony Mantha scores his 20th goal of the season to cut the deficit to 4-2. Mantha has reached the 20-goal mark for the third time in his career (2018-19: 25g; 2017-18: 24g). It marks Mantha’s second-straight game with a power-play goal. The Capitals have now scored multiple power-play goals for the third time in their last five games.

By Jon Sorensen

About Jon Sorensen

Jon has been a Caps fan since day one, attending his first game at the Capital Centre in 1974. His interest in the Caps has grown over the decades and included time as a season ticket holder. He has been a journalist covering the team for 10+ years, primarily focusing on analysis, analytics and prospect development.





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