Norm Hall/NHLI via Getty Images

The Capitals wrapped up their three-game road trip with a 3-0 loss to the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena in Glendale, Arizona. The loss dropped the Capitals record to 55-17-6 (116) points (1-1-1 for the road trip). The Capitals now head home to host the New York Islanders on Tuesday night at Verizon Center. Puck-drop is a much more reasonable 7:00 PM EST.

The starting lines for the Capitals:

Offensive Lines:
Ovechkin-Johansson-Oshie
Burakovsky-Kuznetsov-Williams
Chimera-Beagle-Wilson
Winnik-Richards-Galiev

Defensive Pairs:
Schmidt-Carlson
Alzner-Niskanen
Orpik-Orlov

Philipp Grubauer got the start in goal for the Capitals. Mike Smith got the start for the Coyotes. Nicklas Backstrom missed his second consecutive game due to an upper body injury sustained against the Flyers earlier in the week. Taylor Chorney, Michael Latta and Mike Weber were the healthy scratches for the Caps.

QUICK TAKES
A little less buzzing by the Caps to start this game when compared to last night’s effort in Denver. The workman-like effort continued through the second period, with occasional shifts in surges by both sides, but once again the game was scoreless after two periods of play. The Caps would give up two quick goals at the start of the third period and another late to take the game from the Caps, 3-0. Team stats for the game can be found here: Player stats for the game can be found here: Face-off stats for the game can be found here: Photos for the game can be found here:

The Capitals got off to a much slower start in this game than they did in the previous night’s game in Denver.  Arizona started the game with a significant advantage in offensive zone time through the first five minutes of play, generating several nice scoring chances. The Caps started to find their legs and regain some momentum, which was started with a nice shift by the third line around the 7:00 mark. 5-on-5 play continued throughout the first 15 minutes of play, until Alex Ovechkin was whistled for slashing at 15:14 of the opening frame. The Capitals would successfully kill-off the Coyotes power play. The first period would end in a scoreless tie. The Coyotes led 8-7 in shots on goal after one period of play.

Philipp Grubauer continued his strong play, making several nice saves through the first two periods. The Coyotes regained an early advantage in offensive zone time during the early stages of the second period. Nate Schmidt and Max Domi dropped the gloves at 3:32 of the middle of the frame, which resulted in a draw.

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Fairly even 5-on-5 play continued though the middle of the second period. The Caps would step-up the offensive pressure forwards the latter half of the second period, and regain an advantage in offensive zone time. The Capitals would get their first power play at 18:37 but couldn’t do anything with the man advantage before the period expired. The game remained tied 0-0, with the Caps leading in shots on goal 21-16.

The Coyotes had the advantage in offensive zone time to start the third period. Philipp Grubauer made two nice stops in the first minute of the final frame to keep the game scoreless. Chimera would leave the game after sliding into the boards at the 4:20 mark. The Coyotes would finally get one passed Grubauer at 5:18 of the final frame when Shane Doan tipped one in on a shot from the point.

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The Coyotes would add another just 27 seconds later on a deflected shot by Oliver Ekman- Larsson at 5:45 of the final frame.

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The Coyotes would add a third by Brad Richardson at the 13:58 mark of the final frame.

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The Coyotes would win 3-0.