Coyotes get 6 goals from centers in surprising rout of Caps

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Arizona Coyotes coach Dave Tippett wasn’t ready to proclaim his center issues resolved, but for one strange night against the NHL’s best team, Coyotes pivots were a four-line tour de force.

Centers Christian Dvorak and Alex Burmistrov each had two goals and centers Josh Jooris and Peter Holland added goals as the Coyotes snapped a four-game losing streak with a 6-3 win over the Washington Capitals on Friday night at Gila River Arena behind a career-high 45 saves from Louis Domingue.

The six goals were a season-high for the Coyotes against a team that came in having allowed the fewest goals in the NHL.

“That’s what happens when you get production from the center ice right there,” Tippett said, smiling.

The center position has been a question mark for the Coyotes all season, but increasingly so when Brad Richardson suffered two broken bones in his right leg in November, and the team traded Martin Hanzal in February.

“When we traded Hanzal it put a little bit of a hole in our lineup,” Dvorak said. “It was tough at the start but I think everyone has started to play a little better. It was pretty cool that we got all six tonight.”

For Burmistrov, the final games of this season are an audition for next season. After the Coyotes claimed him off waivers he had six points in his first six games, but he cooled with just three assists in 12 February games before he suffered a concussion, neck and chest injuries in Boston that forced him to be stretchered off the ice and miss a month.

This was Burmistrov’s third game back from those injuries. He’ll be a restricted free agent after four more games.

“I like it here and the only one way to stay here is to show something on the ice,” he said.

Domingue continues to show he is ready to hold down the backup role. In his last seven games, he has stopped 236 of 250 shots for a .944 save percentage.

Domingue had a host of big saves against the Caps, but none was bigger than a backhand save he made on Alex Ovechkin with the Coyotes leading 3-1, but pinned in their zone as Washington tried to rally early in the second period.

“When he goes to his backhand that’s probably where you want him,” Domingue said, laughing. “He’s a pretty good shooter.”

Washington has only won twice in six career visits to Gila River Arena (2-3-1). Capitals third-year coach Barry Trotz had a simple explanation for Friday’s loss.

“We were junk,” said Trotz, whose team trailed 3-0 after one. “It might have been our worst period since I’ve been here.”

When asked if his team could learn something from this performance, Trotz said: “we’d have to start from scratch.”

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