The Arizona Coyotes defeated the New York Islanders 2-1 in a shootout at the Gila River Arena, continuing the Isles’ 2017 woes. While Alan Quine’s deflection gave the Islanders the lead, the Coyotes played well and were rewarded with a late tying goal by Brendan Perlini. No goals were scored in an exciting overtime period, and ultimately the Isles couldn’t get anything done in the shootout.
The Islanders only managed to score twice against the NHL’s two worst teams in Arizona and Colorado, highlighting that they're likely closer in quality right now to the bottom of the league than anything else.
No bueno. https://t.co/76t84qWaRU
— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) January 8, 2017
[Game Sum | Event Sum | Natural Stat Trick | HockeyViz]
First Period
The Islanders once again started slow, failing to register a shot on goal until 6:27 into the first. Brock Nelson also went to the dressing room with an apparent injury with about 5 minutes left in the period, but returned to the ice for the second period.
Andrew Ladd found himself back in early season form as he took two lazy penalties in the first period, one for tripping and one for slashing.
Either way, we seem to be back to November -- #Isles aren't scoring and Ladd is taking careless penalties.
— Arthur Staple (@StapeNewsday) January 8, 2017
The period ended scoreless, however, largely due to the heroics of Thomas Greiss, especially during a flurry of Coyotes shots late in the first period.
It's mayhem in Arizona and Thomas Greiss is up to the challenge. #NYIvsARI pic.twitter.com/6wQHGXmMKH
— NHL (@NHL) January 8, 2017
Second Period
There was a scary situation in the second as Lawson Crouse laid a knee on knee hit against the boards on Travis Hamonic. Hamonic headed to the tunnel without putting weight on his right side, but in true Hamonic fashion, he was back out on the ice again later in the period.
Hamonic back. You can start breathing again. #Isles
— Shannon Hogan (@Shannon_Hogan) January 8, 2017
Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue made some big saves on Brock Nelson and Ryan Strome, but ultimately his gaffe would be the bigger part of this period, as he attempted to pass the puck up ice and instead found the not so friendly stick of Johnny Boychuk, whose shot was deflected in by Alan Quine for his 3rd of the season.
That play by Domingue. Oof. Alan Quine gives #Isles a 1-0 lead.
— Brian Compton (@BComptonNHL) January 8, 2017
The Coyotes took two penalties in a row, one on Josh Jooris for interference after knocking down John Tavares, and one on Laurent Dauphin for boarding. This gave the Islanders some 5 on 3 time, which they were unable to do much with. The Isles had a little over a minute of a regular 5 on 4 power play, which was mostly run by the poorly organized second unit. Lawson Crouse had a shorthanded chance, but ultimately nothing came of it and the period ended with the Islanders up by a goal.
Third Period + Bonus Hockey
The third period didn’t get too interesting until late into it when Christian Dvorak took a minor penalty for high sticking. The Islanders’ power play was woeful yet again, with the best chance coming shorthanded by Tobias Rieder, who just barely missed by hitting the crossbar.
Shortly after the power play expired, Brendan Perlini deflected a shot past Thomas Greiss to tie the game at 1-1. The Islanders once again found themselves playing extra hockey, but the overtime period was much more exciting than the period that preceded it.
Shane Prince hit the post twice, Anthony Duclair’s stick snapped in half on a shot, Nick Leddy had a great breakaway that was stopped by Domingue, who also made a great save on Josh Bailey. Bailey was taken down by Josh Jooris on a second play, which gave the Islanders a power play for the last 30 seconds of overtime. However, the Isles couldn’t convert on the man advantage, and the game went to a shootout.
Anthony Duclair and Radim Vrbata converted their shots, while Cal Clutterbuck and Andrew Ladd were both stopped, leading the Coyotes to a shootout victory.
Up Next
The New York Islanders’ next game is against another struggling team in the Florida Panthers, on Wednesday, January 11. It’ll be the Isles’ first home game of 2017, and I’d say hopefully they can take advantage of a team in limbo, but I’d just be happy with more than one goal in the game.
.@NHLPA when is the next lockout? Asking for a friend
— Michael Leboff (@TheBigLeebowski) January 8, 2017