*Photo from The Rink Live*
The Arizona Coyotes are capturing some magic at that college rink. Nick Schmaltz had 3 assists, Clayton Keller had a pair of goals, and the Coyotes defeated the New York Islanders with a 5-4 victory on Friday night in Tempe.
Due to sharing a rink with Arizona State University, the Coyotes haven't gotten many home games this year, but they've made the most of them. They are 4-2-1 at home, including 3 straight wins, beating the Boston Bruins, Philadelphia Flyers, and now the Islanders. Leading the way on the scoresheet for the Coyotes were Schmaltz and Keller, with Jakob Chychrun also netting two assists.
Arizona head coach Andre Tourigny said of Keller's skill that "I talk about him every day. Every week he gets better. He's a little more competitive. He's a student of the game, he's passionate and he's a learner."
Sebastian Aho scored the first goal, giving the Islanders a 1-0 lead just 1:41 into the game on his 3rd goal of the season. Mathew Barzal added his 4th goal of the year to double the lead to 2-0 before Shayne Gostisbehere answered back for the Coyotes. He scored his 7th goal of the season to make it 2-1 after one period.
The first goal of the second period came courtesy of Keller, who tied the game 2-2 at the 8:55 mark of the second. Nick Bjugstad then scored his 7th goal of the season to give the Coyotes a 3-2 lead. Noah Dobson then provided a response for the Islanders, tying the game 3-3 after two periods, his 10th goal of the season.
Early in the 3rd period, Travis Boyd found the back of the net for the Coyotes, making it a 4-3 game with Chychrun and Schmaltz assisting. The lead then became 5-3 when Schmaltz and Chychrun assisted on Keller's second goal of the night. Anthony Beauvillier scored for the Islanders to cut the deficit to 5-4, but Arizona held on from there.
Schmaltz said after the game that "I mean, good things happen when you shoot the puck. We're shooting the puck a little bit more. Some nights they go in and some nights they don't but, the more you shoot, the better chance you have to score goals."
Getting the start in goal for the Coyotes was Karel Vejmelka, who got the win to improve to 9-8-3 on the season. Vejmelka turned away 30 of 34 shots he faced from the Islanders, recording a .882 save percentage in the win.
On the other side of the ice, it was Ilya Sorokin who started for the Islanders. Sorokin got the loss, saving 24 out of the 29 shots on goal he saw, which was good for a .828 save percentage. Sorokin's record is now 10-10-0.
New York head coach Lane Lambert said "That goal late in the period, at the end of the penalty kill, shifted momentum a little bit. We have to be better. We have to find a way to get it back. I'm extremely disappointed with the fact that we didn't produce. We generated some shots, but we needed a goal there."
Both teams get back in action for Saturday night back to backs. The Coyotes start Connor Ingram in goal against the Buffalo Sabres at home, while Semyon Varlamov starts for the Islanders against the Vegas Golden Knights.
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