TEMPE, Ariz. – The start was good for the New York Islanders. Not much else went right, though.
The Arizona Coyotes swept the two-game season series with a 5-4 win on Friday night at 5,000-seat Mullett Arena, their temporary home on the Arizona State campus.
The Islanders (17-13-1) are in a 2-5-1 skid and have started their five-game road trip 0-1-1 as they face Pacific Division-leading Vegas on Saturday night.
Clayton Keller scored twice for the Coyotes (10-14-4), who are 4-8-3 since beating the Islanders, 2-0, at UBS Arena on Nov. 10.
Right wings Anthony Beauvillier, who made it 5-4 with the Islanders skating six on five, and Kyle Palmieri returned to the Islanders’ lineup after missing two and 10 games, respectively. But Palmieri, who had been on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, went right back to the Islanders’ dressing room at 10:59 of the third period after a high hit from Nick Ritchie.
Cal Clutterbuck, still wearing a full cage, followed Palmieri off the bench seconds later, as did defenseman Alexander Romanov after being hit in the groin area with a puck.
Keller made it 5-3 on that play at 14:49 after Travis Boyd, off the left post, gave the Coyotes a 4-3 lead at 2:08 of the third period.
Defenseman Noah Dobson’s shot from the right point through Palmieri’s screen in front of Karel Vejmelka allowed the Islanders to escape an awful second period in a 3-3 tie.
The Islanders had taken a 2-0 lead in the first period before a late high-sticking penalty on Beauvillier completely shifted the game’s momentum.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere’s shot through traffic brought the Coyotes within 2-1 with 43.9 seconds left in the first period, just after Beauvillier exited the penalty box.
Keller and Nick Bjugstad then scored two goals within 14 seconds as the Coyotes took a 3-2 lead at 9:09 of the second period. Keller connected through traffic at 8:55 before Bjugstad sent a rocket from the left circle.
At that point, the Coyotes held a 10-0 shot advantage in the second period and had outshot the Islanders 18-1 since Mathew Barzal made it 2-0 at 13:33 of the first period, knocking in the puck at the crease after defenseman Robin Salo’s initial shot.
Defenseman Sebastian Aho gave the Islanders a 1-0 lead on the game’s first shot, connecting from the left point. Bailey, with the secondary assist as he made a nice play along the wall, broke a tie with Pat LaFontaine and moved into sole possession of seventh place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list with 567 points.
