Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Nicklas Backstrom scored early in the third period, then set up Brooks Laich's power-play goal, helping the Washington Capitals rally from a two-goal deficit and edge the Coyotes, 4-3, on Monday night at the Verizon Center.

Phoenix (10-6-3) finished its season-high five-game road trip 3-2-0. Both losses were by one goal.

The Capitals entered Monday in a serious slump, having lost six of their previous seven games, including a 7-1 setback at Toronto on Saturday. But Backstrom broke a 2-2 tie only 1:52 into the third period, lifting the puck past goalie Jason LaBarbera from near the net.

Backstrom earned an assist on Laich's goal at the 7:06 mark of the third period during a 5-on-3 power play (see KEY MOMENT below).

Lauri Korpikoski's second goal of the game, with about 8:32 left, cut the Coyotes' deficit to one goal, but they couldn't manage to pull even.

John Carlson and Cody Eakin scored even-strength goals for Washington, and Tomas Vokoun made 20 saves.

Phoenix's first two goals came during power plays for Washington. Radim Vrbata scored on a classic short-handed breakaway, and Korpikoski's first of the night came via penalty shot after he was interfered with during a short-handed breakaway. Ironically, the Coyotes entered the game with zero short-handed goals in their first 18 games.

Vrbata put the Coyotes ahead 1-0 with his team-high ninth goal of the season 4:33 into the game. Carlson was at the point on the power play when he fumbled away the puck to Vrbata, who beat Vokoun 1-on-1 with the Coyotes' first shot of the game.

In the final minute of the first period, Washington's Matt Hendricks got into a fight with Kyle Chipchura, bloodying the Phoenix forward's face. The clash drew loud cheers from the stands when it was shown on the above-ice video board, and if it was an attempt by Hendricks to fire up his teammates, it didn't pay immediate dividends.

Photo by Getty Images.

Instead, the Coyotes grabbed the next goal, going ahead 2-0 on Korpikoski's penalty shot 7:34 into the second period. The penalty was awarded after Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman hooked Korpikoski, who had broken alone into Washington's zone.

Suddenly, though, the Capitals (11-7-1) came alive. One second after that power play elapsed, Carlson put in a slap shot from near the blue line, an unassisted goal 8:27 into the period that made it 2-1. And about three minutes later, Cody Eakin slapped the puck past LaBarbera - who was making his first start since Nov. 3 - to tie the score.

"There were some good spurts and sometimes we played very well and then there were still some areas we need to clean up and some players who could really give us a little more," Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett said. "We’ll continue to push forward. We got a hard working group here.”

► EDITOR'S NOTE: Dave Vest of phoenixcoyotes.com edited this story and compiled this recap.

Leading 3-2, and with Phoenix forward Shane Doan (slashing) and defenseman David Schlemko (delay of game) sitting in the penalty box, Capitals center Brooks Laich ripped a slap shot from the top of the right circle past Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera at 7:06 of the third period.

► Click here to watch the KEY MOMENT.

Lauri Korpikoski

• Forward Lauri Korpikoski notched the fifth two-goal game of his career. Two of those five games have been played at the Verizon Center in Washington. Moreover, Korpikoski has scored five of his 35 NHL goals vs. the Capitals.

• Center Boyd Gordon, playing his first game against the team that drafted him in 2002, had an assist and won 12 of 20 faceoffs.

• The Coyotes scored two short-handed goals in the same game for the first time since Jan. 2, 2008 vs. the New York Islanders.
 
• Before the game, the Coyotes recalled defenseman Maxim Goncharov from the American Hockey League. "We have a few defensemen with bumps and bruises so, with three games in four nights later this week, we thought it prudent to recall Goncharov at this time," General Manager Don Maloney said.

• The Coyotes played minus center Daymond Langkow for a sixth straight game. Langkow has been granted a leave of absence from the team because of a death in his family.

• The Coyotes scratched Maxim Goncharov, Daymond Langkow and Patrick O'Sullivan.

• The Coyotes' next game is Wednesday vs. Anaheim at Jobing.com Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m. (Arizona time). The game can be seen on Fox Sports Arizona and can be heard on XTRA Sports 910 (AM).

"We should’ve kept going after them. I think we had some good energy. It was a long road trip but that’s no excuse. It kind of slipped through our hands." "They kept putting the puck to the net and were generating opportunities off of rebounds and second chances and they kept shooting the puck. I think we were a little guilty of sitting back after we got a two-goal lead... and we're not a good team when we do that." "I think we won today the way we wanted to. You can look back at their goals – one was a breakaway and one was a penalty shot – so I think we were very proud of our defensive effort. We limited their chances and it was a big difference tonight." Korpikoski Doan Knuble