5 takeaways from Washington

WASHINGTON — There is no way to analyze the Coyotes’ 2-0 loss to the Capitals on Friday and suggest that they went toe-to-toe with one of the NHL’s elite teams. Washington outshot Arizona 32-16, there were times at 5-on-5 when the Capitals looked like they were on the power play, and there were six times that the Capitals actually made it to the power play because they were forcing the action so regularly.

That sobering fact aside, the formula by which the Coyotes are going to win their first game was on display at Capital One Arena. They defended well, they got exceptional goaltending from Karel Vejmelka again, and they generated some chances with hard work in the offensive zone, despite a late arrival in D.C. after a game in Tampa on Thursday.

“For a back-to-back we really stuck together; we put great effort together,” forward Antoine Roussel said. “It wasn’t perfect in many ways but we were in the game and we had a good push in the third period to go for the win. We just couldn’t capitalize on good chances. It’s just the way the game is going right now.”

John Carlson’s seeing-eye, power-play goal finally broke the ice just past the midpoint of the third period, and Alex Ovechkin added an empty-net goal, but the Coyotes at least righted their ship after a 5-3 loss in Tampa that felt more lopsided. 

“We did not play to not lose, we played to win,” coach André Tourigny said. “We played hard. We had good chances. Our puck management got better during the game. You’re on a back-to-back against two elite teams in the league. You would expect at the end of the game maybe to run out of gas. It was the reverse. 

“It’s bittersweet. It’s a lot of good things but again, we’re not in this business for moral victories. But we need to see the positive and see where it’s coming. We’re playing better and better.”

Here are five takeaways from Washington.

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Vejmelka validation, Part II

Karel Vejmelka burst onto the NHL scene with a 32-save effort in a 2-1 shootout loss at Buffalo in the second game of the season. His best effort may have come at Capital One Arena on Friday. Vejmelka stopped 30 of 31 shots, coming close to stealing a victory for the Coyotes against the Caps.

“He was amazing,” Tourigny said. “Without his performance in the first period we could have been down early. I think we gave up five good scoring chances in the first and Vej was rock solid.”

Tourigny said Vejmelka gave the team hope and Roussel said it has been that way since the preseason.

“He’s been playing like a true veteran ever since he got here,” Roussel said. “It’s impressive. He’s really good. He gives us a chance to stay in the game every night. Who’d have thought, coming from the Czech league and being very good right away?”

Vejmelka dismissed the idea that this was his best game because the team lost, but he did note how meaningful it was to face Ovechkin.

“He’s got a good shot,” he said, laughing. “I felt it in my arms. It’s something special for me to play against this player. I know him just from television or PlayStation. It’s a little bit crazy for me but it was very good experience.”

Given Vejmelka’s understated approach in goal and off the ice, it would be a surprise not to see him back in goal on Sunday against Carolina as the Coyotes look for their first win.

“He’s not the most outspoken guy,” Tourigny said. “He’s really quiet. To say he’s low maintenance, it would be an understatement. You talk to him, it’s always, ‘Yes, no’ and “No problem, all good coach.’” 

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Mr. Beagle goes to Washington 

Jay Beagle has always felt a sense of gratitude for his professional hockey career, As an undrafted free agent who had to play for the Calgary Royals of the AJHL, for Alaska Anchorage in the NCAA, for the Idaho Steelheads in the ECHL and for the Hershey Bears of the AHL before getting his NHL shot, he understands more than most what a privilege it is to play this game for a living.

Having just turned 36 two weeks ago, and entering the final year of a contract that will pay him $2.2 million this season, he also knows that time is running out on that pro career. That’s what makes this stop on the Coyotes’ six-game road trip even more special.

Beagle spent the first 10 years of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals, culminating with a Stanley Cup in his final season. It was an achievement long-suffering Capitals fans sometimes wondered if they’d ever realize, and it was a dream come true that Beagle never even dared to dream.

“I have always just viewed myself as someone who was so fortunate to be in the NHL,” he said. “It was the same when I was in Washington. They gave me a chance and I felt very privileged to be part of that organization. We had such a great group of guys for many years there and it was just a pleasure to play there. I love the city, the fans, everything about that place is special to me and not just because we won, but because of the connection I had with the organization and the team and the players and the fans.”

After winning a Kelly Cup with the Steelheads and back-to-back Calder cups with the Bears, Beagle’s role with the Capitals became much what it is today with the Coyotes. He played with linemates such as Tom Wilson, Troy Bouwer, André Burakovsky, guys who were either on their way to bigger offensive roles or had adapted a niche role in their later years

“I had a few years where I got a few more points growing up but I never really had the offensive touch that you wish you have,” Beagle said, laughing. “My dad always said to take care of the D-zone first and to have that defensive mindset so I did, even when I was young. I was an energy guy who PKs, plays physical and works hard. That fit in pretty well with the Capitals. I was always a center and I always worked on my faceoffs, even when I was younger.”

When the Caps finally got the payoff, it was both sweet and bittersweet for Beagle, who was one of a handful of members on that etam who moved on (beagle to Vancouver) after that season. 

“When you look at the team that we had, five, six, seven years before that, and we just couldn’t get past the second round, iit was heartbreaking. By the time year five or six rolls around, you start beating your head on the wall, wondering, ‘What are we doing wrong? Why can’t we get over the hump, having such a great team?’

For me personally,winning the Cup was the greatest moment of my hockey life, and I’m sure for all the guys on that team, they would say the same thing. That group that we had that year was the tightest group that I’ve ever been a part of, and the most fun, but also the most focused. You could tell going into that year, it was different. Right from game one, it felt different. It’s hard to describe, but I just remember thinking, ‘This feels different.’ And it ended up being the case.”

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The Great Eight

Perhaps the coolest record pursuit of our era is playing out in Washington. Before the Coyotes’ game against the Capitals, Alex Ovechkin sat fifth all-time in career goals scored. 

With an empty-net goal against the Coyotes, he has 739, two short of tying Brett Hull for fourth on the all-time list. Barring injuries, it seems a foregone conclusion that Ovechkin will surpass Gordie Howe (801) for second place, but the real challenge will be to overtake Wayne Gretzky for first.

More than a few analysts, Gretzky included, have suggested that if Ovechkin had played in Gretzky’s wide open era of hockey, he would have blown past 894 goals by now. It’s probably true, but the pursuit is a fascinating storyline now because Ovechkin just turned 36.

He is on a blistering pace this season with nine goals in eight games. Let’s assume he cools off a little bit but still hits 50 goals this season. That would leave him 114 goals short of Gretzky with four years left on his contract. At some point, Ovechkin will slow down, and that fast-approaching 40th birthday suggests it will happen soon. But if he can put up back-to-back elite seasons this year and next, he will be within easy striking distance of Gretzky even if he slows down.

“The first thing that jumps out to me is his enthusiasm,” Coyotes coach André Tourigny said before the Coyotes faced the Capitals. “He loves the game and plays with that passion. He has his way to play the game. He never changes. How does the same thing and it works because he doesn’t handle the puck. If you look tonight, he will have the puck 10 seconds and he might take eight shots in that 10 seconds.”

On the Caps’ third power play of the game, Ovechkin’s teammates kept feeding him the puck and by the end of the second period, Ovechkin had 10 shot attempts. Most of those came from his well known office in the circle to the right of the goalie.

“If he was getting the puck in the neutral zone and scoring goals all the time, I would say it’s amazing we cannot adjust, but in reality that’s not possible, ” Tourigny said. “For a goal scorer like him to score in today’s type of game you need to be really good at shooting the puck quick and just finding a soft spot.

“I’m a hockey geek. I have a passion for the game and I love all those players who perform year after year after year. Being good once is one thing but being good every year like Wayne did before him, like he does, like (Sidney) Crosby does, that’s pretty special.”

PK improvement

The Coyotes entered Friday’s game with the league’s worst penalty-killing unit. The ranking didn’t change but the unit got a boost in confidence by killing five Washington power plays before Carlson’s shot found its way through a lot of traffic to decide the game at 12:02 of the third period. 

“The PK came up big,” Toiurigny said. “We all know that Washington’s power play is deadly. One mistake at the end, Carlson took a good shot, but if you would have told me before the game that we will have (six) PKs and we’ll give only one goal I would have probably taken that.” 

Vejmelka had a great deal to do with the unit’s success, but the structure was also better, the Coyotes were blocking shots and they bumped their success rate to 54.2 percent. Here’s a look at the worst penalty killing percentages over an entire season since the NHL began tracking them in 1977-78. 

O for October?

All that stands between the Coyotes and a winless October is a Sunday date against the 7-0 Carolina Hurricanes, who boast the league’s best goal differential (plus-20). The Hurricanes beat the Blackhawks 6-3 on Friday to improve to 4-0 at home. They have beaten the Coyotes three straight times in Raleigh.

If the Coyotes (0-7-1) can’t get a win there, their winless streak to start the season will reach nine games; two short of the club record set in Rick Tocchet’s first season as coach (2017-18) when the team went 0-10-1 to start the season.

Here is a look at the longest winless streaks to start a season in NHL history.

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