TEMPE, Ariz. — The Washington Capitals kicked off their three-game swing out West with a dominant 4-0 win against the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday night at Mullett Arena. Dylan Strome had a two-goal performance, and Capitals goaltender Darcy Kuemper recorded his NHL-leading fifth shutout of the season with 27 saves.
Arizona (14-26-5), which sits near the cellar of the Western Conference, appeared to get a goal back early in the third, but its power-play tally was waved off after Washington (25-17-6) successfully challenged for offside.
Strome, the Coyotes’ first-round pick (third overall) in the 2015 draft, then scored his second goal of the night off a nice feed from Evgeny Kuznetsov with 11:19 left in regulation.
Thursday was the first time the Capitals played at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, which houses both the Coyotes and Arizona State University’s men’s hockey team on ASU’s campus.
Strome gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead only 3:03 into the game on a redirect of a shot from Dmitry Orlov.
His two goals gave him 11 on the season, making him the only Capital besides Alex Ovechkin with at least 10 goals and 20 assists.
“It was more about our team. Tough loss last game, so it was nice to come on the road and start the road trip off on the right foot. Against your old team is always a bit of a bonus," Strome said of his two-goal night.
The Capitals also had a goal waved off after Lars Eller appeared to score early in the second, only to have the Coyotes successfully challenge for goaltender interference.
A few minutes later, Milano gave Washington a 2-0 lead, a goal that came as a result of strong pressure on the forecheck. It was Milano’s eighth goal of the season and his second in three games. Wilson scored on the power play with 1:19 left in the frame, his second in three games since he returned from last spring’s knee surgery.
Capitals Coach Peter Laviolette said of Kuemper’s night: “Really good. Sometimes it is tough in those games where there is not a lot of volume and there is not much coming, it’s even harder to stay focused. When they did have power plays at the end and they were pushing and pressing and he had to be sharp and make some saves, I thought he looked really good.”
Washington’s trip continues Saturday at Vegas before the Capitals finish their road swing Tuesday in Colorado.
Here’s what else to know about the Capitals’ victory:
Mullett party
Capitals players welcomed the intimate atmosphere of Mullett Arena. Washington has a handful of players who played college hockey: T.J. Oshie, Nick Jensen, Nic Dowd, Conor Sheary and Charlie Lindgren.
Oshie said after the morning skate the ice was “phenomenal” and was potentially the best they have skated on this season. He said Mullet Arena reminded him of the rink at the University of North Dakota.
“They did a great job with the locker room setup for NHL teams coming in here,” Laviolette said. “It seemed great out there this morning; the ice was good. It's compact, and when you put a lot of people in a compact building, it can be really, really good.”
Lineup holds
Washington scratched Anthony Mantha for the fourth time in six games. Laviolette noted earlier in the week that the team was going through a “rotation” of forwards to take out of the lineup to try to find the right fit with the returns of Nicklas Backstrom and Wilson.
In addition to Mantha (who has a $5.7 million salary cap hit), Laviolette also scratched Strome for a game and Eller for another before scratching Mantha the past two contests. Nicolas Aube-Kubel has been taking Mantha’s place in the lineup. The in-season pickup has played on the top line with Ovechkin and Strome the past couple of games and has acted as a physical threat next to two offensive scorers.
Dowd to IR
Dowd was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Monday after he was crunched along the boards by the New York Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck. Washington has provided no further update on Dowd’s injury. Players must remain on IR for a minimum of seven days after the injury. The center did not travel with the team on its road trip.