Islanders feel at home in victory over Coyotes
Islanders defenseman Mike Reilly, left, celebrates after his goal against the Coyotes during the first period of an NHL game Thursday in Tempe, Ariz. Credit: AP/Ross D. Franklin
TEMPE, Ariz. — Mullett Arena is the most unique facility in the NHL, a 5,000-seat college rink forced to double as the Coyotes’ home while that franchise tries to find a permanent building.
But it was the Islanders who felt very much at home on Thursday night in a 5-1 win as their boisterous and dominant fans took over the diminutive arena and gave it a Nassau Coliseum feel, particularly in their three-goal third period.
“It’s awesome,” said Julien Gauthier, whose goal off the rush gave the Islanders a three-goal lead just 53 seconds after Mathew Barzal’s takeaway set up Anders Lee for a 3-1 lead at 4:29 of the third period. “I honestly did not expect that in Arizona. They were loud. It was great for us.”
The Islanders (18-10-10) are 1-1-1 on this four-game road trip that concludes Saturday night in Las Vegas. Ilya Sorokin made 25 saves after shutting out the Coyotes in three of his first five career starts against them, including a 1-0 win at UBS Arena on Oct. 17 in which he needed to make only 14 saves.
Bo Horvat scored twice in a three-point outing and Barzal, named an All-Star earlier in the day, and defenseman Noah Dobson each had two assists. The Islanders’ forecheck consistently forced the Coyotes into mistakes.
“I don’t think we were very happy with our last game in Colorado and we wanted to have a bounce-back night,” Horvat said of his line with Barzal and Lee, which was held to a lone assist from Barzal in Tuesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Avalanche. “I thought a lot of our offense came from playing well defensively, backtracking and countering.”
“I’d say it was confidence, right from the start tonight,” Barzal said of the difference between Thursday’s win and Tuesday’s defeat. “In Colorado, my first three touches I fumbled the puck, and tonight, I felt comfortable right away. After a bad game like Colorado, you really reset and get back to kind of simplifying.”
Connor Ingram stopped 26 shots for the Coyotes (19-16-2). He was under siege for much of the third period with the Islanders holding a 14-4 shot advantage.
“We’ve learned from that in the past,” Horvat said of continuing to apply pressure in the third period rather than trying to sit back and protect a 2-1 lead. “We didn’t get away from our game plan.”
“Let’s Go Islanders” and “Yes, Yes, Yes” chants alternated for much of the period after the rapid-fire goals by Lee and Gauthier. Horvat, with an unassisted goal off the rush, capped the scoring at 13:05.
“Amazing,” coach Lane Lambert of the crowd reaction before smiling and adding, “I’m assuming they’re going to be in Vegas.”
But those chants were not new.
The Islanders made themselves at home quickly, establishing their forechecking to put pressure on the Coyotes from the start as “Let’s Go Islanders” chants drowned out the home fans chanting for their team, even though that was accompanied by drums.
Horvat’s power-play goal from the slot — after he won an offensive-zone faceoff to start the man advantage — opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period. It came just 11 seconds after Nick Bjugstad tripped Kyle Palmieri in the Islanders’ zone.
Barzal then set up defenseman Mike Reilly’s shot from low in the left circle to make it 2-0 at 12:02 of the first period. The assist was Barzal’s 400th career point.
But the Coyotes pushed back in the second period, halving the lead on Nick Schmaltz’s power-play goal from low in the left circle at 3:29.
Said Reilly, “We responded well in the third.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
