GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Arizona Coyotes coach Dave Tippett has cautioned against reading too much into his team's recent hot streak.

"There's not a lot of pressure on our team right now," Tippett said of a club that will miss the playoffs for a fourth straight season. "Let's keep that in mind."

It's a fair point, but it's better than the alternative for Tippett.

Captain Shane Doan and defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored goals 27 seconds apart, early in the third period, and Brad Richardson added a goal as the Coyotes defeated the Washington Capitals 3-0 to improve to 7-4 in their last 11 games.

In that run, Arizona has defeated four playoff teams: San Jose, Dallas, Philadelphia and the NHL's top team, the Capitals, who have been shut out twice in their last five games.

Goalie Mike Smith posted his second shutout in seven games since returning from lower abdomen surgery. Smith has allowed two goals or fewer in six of those seven games and has stopped 225 of 234 shots for a .962 save percentage. The shutout was his third of the season and the 30th of his career.

Doan got the Coyotes on the board when he deflected left winger Max Domi's shot from the half wall past Capitals goalie Philipp Grubauer (24 saves) for Doan's 27th goal of the season at 5:18 of the third period.

Ekman-Larsson widened the lead at 5:45 when his shot from the point deflected off Washington right winger T.J. Oshie's stick and skipped past Grubauer for a 2-0 lead.

Richardson added an insurance goal when he beat Grubauer from the left wing for a 3-0 lead at 13:58. The goal gave Richardson a career-high in points with 29. On the play, Domi recorded his second assist of the game to move past Peter Mueller for the most assists (33) in a single season by a Coyote.

The first two periods belonged to the goaltenders and the defense. After Coyotes center Antoine Vermette hit the post early in the first period, Grubauer robbed fellow German Tobias Rieder on a rebound attempt when he slid post to post to get a pad on Rieder's shot from the bottom of the left circle.

Smith returned the favor in the second period when he snared Alex Ovechkin's attempt with his glovehand off a 2-on-1 on a shot that was ticketed for the upper corner. Ovechkin hasn't scored in Arizona since his rookie season of 2006 -- a span of five games -- when he netted a memorable goal on Brian Boucher while falling down. Wayne Gretzky was the Coyotes coach.

NOTES: Coyotes D Michael Stone underwent surgery Friday to repair a torn ACL and MCL suffered March 26 against Philadelphia. Stone will miss a minimum of six months. If he misses the minimum amount of time, he could be back for the end of training camp in early October. ... Coyotes C Martin Hanzal missed the game with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day. The Coyotes recalled C Laurent Dauphin from Springfield of the AHL to replace him. ... Coyotes D Oliver Ekman-Larsson returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game in Dallas with an undisclosed illness. ... Capitals G Braden Holtby took the day off despite being just win away from tying Martin Brodeur's single-season record for victories in a season at 48. Holtby recorded win No. 47 on Friday in Denver. Philipp Grubauer started in goal on Saturday. ... Caps C Nicklas Backstrom missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury. Coach Barry Trotz doesn't expect Backstrom to miss any more time.