*Photo from Fox News*
In his quest for goal scoring history, Alex Ovechkin has not slowed down one bit. In fact, he's amped it up. Ovechkin scored again, John Carlson scored, and the Washington Capitals shut out the Arizona Coyotes for a 2-0 win on Friday night.
In 8 games to start the season, Ovechkin has been on a tear, scoring 9 goals and adding 6 assists. Ovechkin scored goal number 739 on Friday night, which puts him just two goals behind Brett Hull for the 4th most goals in NHL history. Ovechkin also matched his 15 points in 8 games to begin a season total from the 2009-2010 season.
When asked postgame about Ovechkin's red hot start to the season, Carlson answered "I don't think it's a surprise. He's only done it for 17 other years too. So maybe he had one down year out of 17 or whatever it is. So, no, there's no surprise from us."
After a scoreless two periods in Washington, the offense woke up in the 3rd period. While on the power play 12:02 into the final period, Carlson tallied his second goal of the season, assisted by Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov to give the Capitals a 1-0 lead late in the game. With 21 seconds left, Ovechkin scored on the empty net to make it 2-0 Capitals, sealing the win.
Ilya Samsonov got the start in goal for the Capitals, and recorded his 4th shutout in his 49 NHL games. Samsonov saved all 16 shots the Coyotes sent his way, getting the shutout win to improve his season record to 3-0-1, and his season save percentage now sits at .904 through 4 games, 3 of which were starts.
After the game, Capitals coach Peter Laviolette said that "I don't think our guys were frustrated after two periods, but sometimes you try to do more than you should and get outside of what is working for you. So just staying on point and keeping the pedal down inside of the structure and inside of the system and guys did a really good job."
In his 4th start of the season, Karel Vejmelka performed admirably for the Coyotes, but it was not enough to get the win, as the offense was snake bitten all night. Vejmelka saved 30 of 31 shots he faced from the Capitals, posting a strong .968 save percentage, but the loss drops his record to 0-4-0 this season.
With the loss, the Coyotes as a team dropped to 0-7-1 this season, firmly in last place in the whole league, as they've only recorded one point. It's their worst start to a season in team history since the 2017-2018 season, when they posted an 0-10-1 mark to open the year.
Coyotes coach Andre Tourigny said postgame that "It's bittersweet. It's a lot of good things tonight, but again, we're not in this business to get moral victories. But we need to see the positive and see that it's coming. We're playing better."
The Coyotes play again on Sunday afternoon against the undefeated Carolina Hurricanes, with Vejmelka lined up to get another start. The Capitals play next on Monday night, when they travel to face the Tampa Bay Lightning, with Vitek Vanecek slated to get the start in goal.
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