Photo: John McCreary/Getty Images

The Washington Capitals downed the Arizona Coyotes by a score of 2-0 at Capital One Arena on Friday night. The victory lifted the Capitals’ record to 5-0-3, second in the Metropolitan Division. Goaltender Ilya Samsonov made 16 saves in the win.

Capitals’ Lines vs. Coyotes

Graphic: @Capitals

With right-wing T.J. Oshie out due to a lower-body injury, Daniel Sprong took his spot after being a healthy scratch in Wednesday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Right-wing Brett Leason made his NHL debut, skating on the third-line, while Hendrix Lapierre shifted to center. Center Nicklas Backstrom, who is recovering from a hip injury, missed his eighth straight game. Center Nic Dowd was out for the second time in three games due to a lower-body injury.

First Period

The Capitals led 14-4 in shots, 5-4 in hits, and did not score on two power plays in the first.

The Coyotes led 4-2 in takeaways, 4-3 in blocked shots, won 56% of the faceoffs, and did not convert on their lone man advantage of the period.

Each team was credited with two giveaways through one.

Second Period

The Capitals led 23-10 in shots, including 9-6 in the second, and failed to score on five power plays through 40 minutes.

The Coyotes led 14-8 in hits, 11-7 in blocked shots, 8-7 in takeaways, had four giveaways while the Capitals had six, won 58% of the draws, and did not score on two power plays in the first two periods.

Third Period

Capitals defenseman Trevor Van Riemsdyk saved the team from going down 1-0 by blocking right-wing Christian Fischer’s shot from the slot with a wide open net to shoot at just prior to the first television timeout of the period.

TVR 😤 pic.twitter.com/Tcgp6t2Qwg

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2021

Defenseman John Carlson wristed one from up top through a maze of bodies with left-wing Conor Sheary in front of Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka after getting a feed from center Evgeny Kuznetsov from the right wall to give the Capitals the first goal of the game on the power play with 7:58 left.

Carly breaks the scoring drought! pic.twitter.com/SC6cukYfxX

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) October 30, 2021

Left-wing Alex Ovechkin wristed one from just above the right circle in his own zone into an empty net at the other end with 21 seconds left to make it 2-0. It marked the 36-year-old’s ninth goal in eight games this season.

739 buts pour Alex Ovechkin! 👀 pic.twitter.com/dClYvTmeQo

— TVASports (@TVASports) October 30, 2021

The Capitals led 32-16 in shots, including 9-6 in the third, 16-13 in blocked shots, and scored once on six power plays.

The Coyotes led 19-16 in hits, 11-7 in takeaways, had five giveaways while the Capitals had eight, and did not score on three power plays.

The battle at the dot was even.

Next game: Monday at Tampa Bay Lightning (7 PM ET, NBC Sports Washington locally, NHL Network nationally)

By Harrison Brown