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For the first time in over a month, things are starting to look up for the Arizona Coyotes.
When Arizona faces the host Washington Capitals on Sunday afternoon, it will be doing something it hasn’t had the chance to do since late January — win back-to-back games.
After losing 14 straight games and going 0-9-2 in February, the Coyotes picked up a 5-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, halting a dismal skid that saw them score 33 goals and concede 64.
Dylan Guenther scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period for Arizona, which also got markers from Michael Carcone, J.J. Moser, Nick Schmaltz and Matias Maccelli in the win. The Coyotes built a 3-0 lead in the first 16 minutes of the game before holding on down the stretch.
“It’s (big) for everybody,” Arizona coach Andre Tourigny said following his team’s first win since Jan. 22, a 5-2 decision against the Pittsburgh Penguins. “For coaches, management, our fans, our media, everybody. You want to be in a winning environment, you want to have success. I think everybody will be happy and we’ll have a great day off (Saturday).”
The Coyotes have not won back-to-back games since the aforementioned victory over Pittsburgh, which came on the heels of a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators on Jan. 20.
While the Coyotes find themselves well out of the playoff race, the end of their losing streak provides some hope to a group that started the season well as it visits a Capitals team still gunning for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Washington is currently battling for an Eastern Conference wild card, entering Saturday sitting five points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently hold the second and final spot.
The Capitals also prevailed in their most recent outing, beating the Philadelphia Flyers 5-2 on Friday night.
Captain Alex Ovechkin scored for the 17th time this season, giving him 839 goals for his career. He is now just 55 behind Wayne Gretzky for the all-time record.
Dylan Strome had a goal and two assists and Sonny Milano, John Carlson and Anthony Mantha also scored against Philadelphia, which jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes of action.
“We talked (Thursday) about where we are at, and the significance and importance of this game against the team that we’re trying to catch,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “We’re running out of runway here. … I don’t want to say ‘do or die,’ but – as close as you can get to it.
“This is as close as you can get to, ‘We need this one, or we’re in some trouble.’ And I give our guys a ton of credit, because that first period, you’re like, ‘Are we going to go quietly into the night?'”
Strome leads the Capitals with 46 points (22 goals, 24 assists), which Ovechkin has 44, pairing 27 assists with his 17 goals.
Clayton Keller has a team-high 52 points (22 goals, 30 assists) for Arizona, which is gearing up to be a seller at the March 8 trade deadline.
–Field Level Media
