The New York Islanders and Arizona Coyotes will try to bounce back from tough losses when the two teams meet on Thursday in Tempe, Ariz.
The Islanders never trailed in regulation during their 5-4 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday, but they surrendered three leads (including a 3-1 edge early in the second period) en route to the extra frame. Nathan MacKinnon then scored on a power play just 32 seconds into overtime to give Colorado the win.
Though New York led for the majority of the game, the Avalanche’s 39-22 shots advantage still left the Islanders in a defensive posture. Colorado would’ve generated even more offense if it wasn’t for 31 blocked shots for the Islanders, tying their season high.
“It’s not always perfect, that’s for sure. But I give our guys credit every night, they come to play hard,” New York coach Lane Lambert said. “(The Avalanche) are a high shot-volume team, but we blocked a lot of shots. That does spell commitment to me.”
Tuesday’s defeat was even more costly on the health front, as starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov (undisclosed) and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) both left the game due to injuries.
Ilya Sorokin stopped 23 of 27 shots in relief of Varlamov, and Sorokin seems likely to start Thursday given Varlamov’s questionable status.
The Islanders are 3-3-3 in their past nine games, and 0-1-1 in the first two stops on their four-game road trip.
Arizona’s recent form has been much more solid, as the Coyotes are 6-2-0 in their past eight games. However, the team began a five-game homestand on a sour note with its 4-1 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday.
Alex Kerfoot scored a short-handed equalizer for the Coyotes at 3:17 of the third period, but the Panthers then scored three unanswered goals in the remainder of the final frame. Florida outshot Arizona by a 38-22 margin in the game, including a lopsided 15-4 margin in the third period.
“(We’ll) definitely try and take care of business at home, because it’s going to be a tough stretch with a lot of games against some really good teams,” Kerfoot said. “But we’ve been playing some good hockey. We can’t really let one game or one period really affect us too much.”
Kerfoot has been a big contributor to the Coyotes’ recent success, with eight points (three goals, five assists) over his past seven games.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 35 of 37 Panthers shots and has a 4-1-0 record and .934 save percentage over his past five games. Despite this hot streak for Vejmelka, Connor Ingram (13-7-0) has the better numbers this season and might get the start against New York.
Mathew Barzal leads all Islanders skaters with 37 points (10 goals, 27 assists). Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes with 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists).
The Islanders topped Arizona 1-0 in the first meeting this season between the two teams on Oct. 17 in Elmont, N.Y. Sorokin needed only 14 saves for the shutout, as the Coyotes’ 14 shots on goal marked their fewest shot total in any game this season.
–Field Level Media