Devin Shore, #29 of the Anaheim Ducks, and Dmitry Orlov, #9 of the Washington Capitals, battle for the puck in front of Braden Holtby, #70, in the second period at Capital One Arena on November 18, 2019 in Washington, DC, U.S.A. /VCG Photo
Washington Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway was ejected from a game for spitting on a player from the Anaheim Ducks.
Hathaway spit on defenseman Erik Gudbranson during a brawl late in the second period Monday night with referee Peter MacDougall standing a few feet away. Officials reviewed video before confirming the five-minute match penalty that triggers a game misconduct.
Tempers flared during the first 40 minutes between Washington and Anaheim and boiled over with 33.4 seconds remaining in the second. Capitals forward Brendan Leipsic bulldozed the Ducks' Derek Grant behind the net, sparking several fights between the teams' fourth lines.
The fighting and Hathaway spitting overshadowed the NHL-leading Capitals winning their second in a row and picking up at least one point for the 14th time in 15 games. Alex Ovechkin scored his 254th career power-play goal, Richard Panik, Stephenson and Jakub Vrana also scored, Wilson sealed it with an empty netter and Braden Holtby made 32 saves for Washington.
"He's tremendous," Ovechkin said of Holtby. "He's working hard. Of course, everybody has ups and down, but his game right now is definitely up."
Travis Boyd, #72 of the Washington Capitals, skates in the second period against the Anaheim Ducks at Capital One Arena on November 18, 2019 in Washington, DC, U.S.A. /VCG Photo
Ducks goaltender John Gibson made several spectacular saves to keep his team in the game. Gibson stopped 26 of the 30 shots he faced, losing for the 10th time in 17 starts despite third-period goals from Sam Steel and Nicolas Deslauriers.
"We need him," Eakins said. "We're a team in transition."
Anaheim is also an angry team after seeing Hathaway spit on Gudbranson.
"At the end of the day, it's probably the least respectful thing you can ever do to somebody," Grant said. "We're all competing out there and sometimes the game gets that way. As a group, I thought we did a good job sticking up for each other. That's a tough one to swallow."
Goalie Antti Raanta, #32 of the Arizona Coyotes, stops the puck on a shot by Austin Wagner, #51 of the Los Angeles Kings, during the third period at Gila River Arena on November 18, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona, U.S.A. /VCG Photo
One game after teammate Darcy Kuemper posted a shutout, Antti Raanta of the the Arizona Coyotes earned one of his own with 31 saves as the Coyotes beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-0 on Monday night.
"It was nice to get back out there," Raanta said. "I've been playing a lot on the road, so it's always fun to play at home in front of your fans and feel the energy there."
Raanta and Kuemper became the first Coyotes goaltending tandem with back-to-back shutouts. Kuemper held the Calgary Flames scoreless Saturday night.
It's the sixth time in Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets history that the team has had consecutive shutouts.
"Those guys are leaders in there," Arizona coach Rick Tocchet said, explaining that both Kuemper and Raanta came in on a players' day off Sunday to face shots. "We've got a 1-2 punch here that's pretty special."
Conor Garland had a goal and an assist, Derek Stepan also scored and Christian Dvorak and Nick Schmaltz had two assists apiece as the Coyotes won for the fourth time in five games. Schmaltz raised his point total to a team-high 18.
Raanta denied a breakaway attempt by Austin Wagner with 10:32 to play. Jack Campbell made 24 saves for Los Angeles, which had its three-game winning streak snapped.
"There's been games where I haven't made those timely saves, so obviously it felt good to make that," Raanta said.
Anze Kopitar, #11 (R) of the Los Angeles Kings, skates with the puck as Conor Garland, #83 (L) of the Arizona Coyotes, defends during the first period at Gila River Arena on November 18, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona, U.S.A. /VCG Photo
Garland's team-leading 10th goal came when Schmaltz centered a spinning puck to Dvorak, who got a stick on it as he fell and put a shot on goal. Garland was waiting to deflect the puck past Campbell at 3:12 of the first period.
Arizona took a 2-0 lead on its first power play, using precision passing to score at 14:48 of the first. Four players touched the puck on Stepan's second goal in two games, with Dvorak centering to Stepan for a close-range wrist shot.
The Coyotes had been 1 for 26 on the power play until Stepan scored.
"It was huge to get that going," Dvorak said. "We were moving the puck well and winning our battles."
The Kings got a pair of power plays in the first 8:30 of the second, but couldn't convert and went 0 for 4 on the night.
The Coyotes cashed in on another power play with Chychrun's goal off a no-look pass from Garland at 10:47 of the period.
"They get two, we don't get anything," Kings coach Todd McLellan said. "Momentum swings a lot. We tried to prepare our group for their quickness and their tenacity. We just didn't quite get there. We weren't ready to experience it."
(With input from agencies)