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The New York Islanders dropped the second game of their five-game road trip last night, falling 5-4 to the Arizona Coyotes.
Heading into the game against Arizona, New York was coming off a 4-3 shootout loss against the Boston Bruins, to open their road trip on Tuesday.
The game against Boston was a bit of a back-and-forth, with New York going down 2-0 off of two quick first period goals from Jake DeBrusk in a span of just 19 seconds. The Islanders did manage to battle back though, as Josh Bailey got New York on the board a little later in the period with a redirection in front, before Noah Dobson tied the game midway through the second frame off a point shot. Boston ended up re-taking the lead late in the middle frame, with Derek Forbort beating Semyon Varlamov off a nice shot on the rush, but Casey Cizikas evened the game right back up early in the third period, banking a puck in off Forbort from behind the net.
Neither team could capitalize in regulation after that and when the game continued to overtime, some good chances were exchanged, but a shootout was needed. There, David Pastrnak ended up being the hero, as Boston took the extra point.
Yesterday though, the Islanders got off to a much better start and managed to strike early against Arizona, with Sebastian Aho beating Karel Vejmelka on a point shot. Then after controlling much of the opening frame, Mathew Barzal managed to tip in a point shot from Robin Salo, with New York going ahead 2-0. However, the Coyotes did manage to get one back before the end of the period, with Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot getting through traffic to find its way in.
New York lost pretty much all momentum in the second period though, being completely outshot and just hanging on. Then midway through the period, the Coyotes tied the game after sustaining some zone time, as Clayton Keller’s shot deflected in to beat Sorokin. Then only 14 seconds later, the Islanders couldn’t clear the zone and Nick Bjugstad ended up one-timing a shot to score, as Arizona took the lead. However, the Islanders did show some life later and then with about two minutes to go in the frame, Noah Dobson sent the puck on net and it managed to find its way in, tying the game through 40 minutes.
Arizona ended up taking the lead back pretty quickly in the third period though, with Travis Boyd heading to the net with the puck and whacking a rebound past Sorokin. The Islanders actually did end up firing 16 shots on goal in the frame and had the momentum, but later in the period, Clayton Keller managed to one-time a shot that banked in off Alexander Romanov, making it a 5-3 Coyotes lead. Anthony Beauvillier did get New York to within one late in the period, one-timing a shot off the end boards past Vejmelka, but that’s as close as New York would come, as they fell 5-4.
It’s a disappointing start to the road trip, especially with the loss against Arizona. The Islanders are in a stretch of games where they’re facing some really tough competition, so a game against Arizona (after three days of rest) was a great chance to pick up points, and perhaps more importantly, get their game back on track. Instead, they blew a two-goal lead, didn't really show up through a lot of the second period, and lost in regulation.
Now on a three-game losing streak, the Islanders have won just two of their last eight games. Scoring actually hasn’t really been the issue, New York just can’t manage to keep the puck out of their net, having allowed 23 goals over their last five games. Obviously, losing Adam Pelech hasn’t helped either.
They've also gone 0-for-11 on the power play over their three-game losing streak, and allowing goals in quick succession was an issue in each of the first two games of their road trip.
Ilya Sorokin just hasn’t been himself lately either. He’s posted below a .900 save percentage in each of his last three games, allowing 13 goals over that stretch of time.
The Islanders have slipped as a result, now sitting fifth in the Metropolitan Division and eighth in the Eastern Conference, based on points percentage.
New York will be right back in action tonight, as they face the Vegas Golden Knights in the second half of their back-to-back.
OTHER ARTICLES FROM DECEMBER
Islanders’ four-game winning streak snapped in rematch against Flyers
Islanders fire 49 shots on goal but fall short against Predators
Islanders score three in second period, earn shutout win over Blackhawks
Islanders’ comeback falls short in 7-4 loss to Blues
Islanders hold off Devils for 6-4 win
Islanders shut out by Hurricanes in second half of back-to-back 
New York Islanders Blogger • 
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