Coyotes trample Caps, 6-0 Five-goal first drives Coyotes to win

In Tempe, it was all Coyotes on Monday night.

Connor Ingram made 26 saves in a 6-0 shutout of the visiting Washington Capitals.

The Coyotes scored three times on their first five shots of the game.

Nick Schmaltz hit for a double in the first period when the Coyotes scored five times to take control of the game.

“Everything’s fun when you’re winning,” Schmaltz said. “We’re having a great time working for each other. We’re blocking shots when we’re up 6-0. We wanted to do it for [Ingram] at the end. He deserved a shutout.”

After taking the 3-0 lead on five shots in the first, the Coyotes added two more markers in the three shots for the 5-0 lead after 20 minutes.

For whatever reason, the Caps were not in synch from the opening face-off.

“I think the scoreboard didn’t really reflect it, but [the Capitals] came out and played really well early, but we were opportunistic,” Schmaltz said. “The first shot went in, and then we stayed with it and didn’t give up too many good looks.”

Logan Cooley hot for a power play marker at 8:46 of the first for a 1-0 lead to key the outburst.

Arizona’s Michael Carcone scored midway through the first for a 2-0 advantage.

“No matter who you’re playing in the League, you want to have a good start and have a push from the beginning,” Ingram said. “We fended them off pretty well [at the start] and then went back the other way, and that makes my job a lot easier.”

Schmaltz posted his first of the period at 14:15 off the power play, for a 3-0 lead to the Coyotes.

“Believe it or not, I didn’t mind our start,” Washington coach Spencer Carbery said. “I mean, they just score on everything, so I knew right away ‘Kuemps’ looked a little bit off so then you’re on guard there and hoping that it can stop the bleeding, but once that third goes in … then it got out of hand.”

Schmaltz picked up his double at 17:11 to balloon the lead to 4-0.

The Capitals dropped to 12-8-2.

“Maybe if one goes in [early], it’s a bit of a different game,” Capitals forward Tom Wilson said. “They made some big saves early and from there the game kind of got away from us. It’s frustrating, a result like this, you don’t like seeing that number put on the board. … We’ve got to learn from it. Get home and start building momentum again.”

Jason Zucker closed out the first stanza with a strike at 18:39 for a 5-0 lead.

“You get on a streak like this, I mean this is what people want to see or hear,” Ingram said. “It’s fun to play here now, and people are into it.”

In the middle frame, the Coyotes broke in a 2-on-0 breakaway between Nick Bjugstad  and Alex Kerfoot for a shorthanded goal by Bjugstad at 16:54 for the 6-0 final.

Darcy Kuemper got the start for the Caps and lasted all of five shots, yielding three goals before getting the hook.

Charlie Lindgren made 19 saves in a mop up role.

“Just throw it in the garbage. It was a pretty ugly game for everyone,” Lindgren said. “Still, no excuses. We’ve got to show up and play better than that. But yeah, throw it away. We’ll be better next game (against the Dallas Stars on Thursday).”