*Photo from the New York Post*
Don't look now, but the New York Islanders might be starting to turn a corner. Brock Nelson scored two goals, Scott Mayfield had a goal and an assist, and the Islanders shut out the Arizona Coyotes with a 4-0 win on Friday night on Long Island.
The Islanders were able to get the shutout win thanks to 4 total two point nights. Nelson had two goals, Mayfield had a goal and assist, with Adam Pelech and Josh Bailey having two assist nights. The Islanders have now won 3 straight games, and are 7-1-1 in their last 9 games overall, moving into 6th place in the Metropolitan Division.
Starting in goal for the Islanders was Ilya Sorokin, who got the shutout thanks in part to not having to face many shots. Sorokin saved all 17 Coyotes shots that came his way, with the perfect 1.000 save percentage to increase his record to 11-7-5 in 23 starts so far this season, with wins in his last 4 starts.
Mayfield said of the win that "When we got in their end, we were able to control the puck. We didn't give them easy exits coming back in the neutral zone, stuff like that. We did a good job offensively, and that's sometimes your best defense. But in our zone, I think we played physical, blocked shots and then we were able to exit the zone pretty cleanly."
It was Mayfield who started the scoring, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead 13:51 into the game, with Pelech and Mathew Barzal assisting on Mayfield's second goal of the season. That lead quickly doubled to 2-0 when Austin Czarnik scored his second goal of the season at the 16:49 mark of the period.
After a scoreless second frame, the Islanders increased their lead to 3-0 early in the 3rd period, with Nelson scoring just 1:22 into the period, his 12th goal of the season, with Pelech and Bailey assisting. The lead then became 4-0 when Nelson scored again, this one at the 9:59 mark, with the assists coming from Bailey and Anthony Beauvillier.
Islanders head coach Barry Trotz said that "The Coyotes play a really good brand of hockey. They don't give you much. They don't give you odd-man rushes, they defend really well. They've got some skill, they can make some plays and they're dangerous when they go to the net. There's a lot of good things that Arizona is doing."
Returning to the net after a stay in the NHL's Covid-19 protocols was Scott Wedgewood for the Coyotes, who got saddled with the loss in this one. Wedgewood turned aside 31 of the 35 shots on goal he faced from the Islanders, posting a .886 save percentage as his record drops to 4-10-3 this season, making 15 starts.
Coyotes head coach Andre Tourigny said postgame that "We had breakdowns, which will happen in a game. They had breakdowns as well, they just capitalized on ours. I don't think we played a bad game after two periods, but it was real tough to create offense against them."
Up next, both teams play the second half of a back to back on Saturday. The Islanders host the Toronto Maple Leafs, with fellow Russian Semyon Varlamov to get the start in net. The Coyotes head into Manhattan to face the New York Rangers, with Karel Vejmelka to draw the start.
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