After losing 2-1 to the New York Rangers yesterday, the Arizona Coyotes (1-2) had a back-to-back mini-series as they headed to UBS Arena to play the Islanders (2-0) on Oct. 17 and a similar theme happened both nights.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Goaltending brilliance and not much offense.
Last night, the Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made 26 saves on 27 shots to help propel them to get the win.
In Long Island today, the Coyotes ran into yet another star goaltender in his own right, Ilya Sorokin.
Coming up just short against the Rangers, Arizona looked to bounce back against an Islanders team that had two days of rest since their first game of the season with the Buffalo Sabres in a 2-1 victory.
For a majority of the night, the Coyotes offense just couldn’t get much going and Sorokin ended up having a comfortable performance.
Game Recap
In the first period, there were a few chances by the Islanders to score, but Arizona goalie Karel Vejmelka stood up to the task.
At 4:38 into the first period, former ‘Yote Hudson Fasching was handed a double-minor penalty for high sticking Arizona center Nick Bjugstad that caused him to bleed from being cut.
The Coyotes had a few opportunities on the man advantage, but Sorokin and the Islanders defense mitigated any real threat.
At the end of the first period, the Islanders outshot Arizona 10-3.
Then, ‘Yotes center Barrett Hayton slashed Isles’ Simon Holmstrom at 3:40 into the second period.
7 seconds later, a scrum in the left face-off circle of Arizona’s defensive zone ensued as both teams battled for the loose puck.
Eventually, Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson picked it up and skated towards the blue line and found center Mathew Barzal calling for the puck.
With his stick already up in the air, Barzal received a pass and slap-shotted the puck past Vejmelka’s glove, off the post and in as New York took the lead 1-0.
BARZAL'S FIRST OF 23-24! pic.twitter.com/TZ9rkrVXoY
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) October 18, 2023
Vejmelka would keep the ‘Yotes in the game for the remainder of the contest, but Arizona just couldn’t solve Sorokin as the Coyotes lost 1-0 to the Islanders.
Postgame Notes
After the game, when asked about what happened with the Coyotes offense only getting 14 shots on-goal, veteran Jason Zucker didn’t shy away from what was missing and what they need to work on.
“I think our mentality is to hold onto the puck a little too long,” Zucker said. “We gotta start getting pucks on net, bodies around the net and banging in some rebounds.”
In the end, Sorokin saved all 14 shots he faced for a shutout.
As for Vejmelka, besides the shot by Barzal, he saved everything else as he made 33 saves on 34 Islander attempts.
Now, Arizona is 1-2 with two straight losses to both New York teams after the “Desert Dogs” beat the New Jersey Devils 4-3 in a shootout Oct. 14.
Next game, the Coyotes will clash with Central Division rival, the St. Louis Blues, in Missouri on Oct. 19 at 5 p.m inside Enterprise Center.
Then, on Saturday, the ‘Yotes will finally have their home-opener against the Anaheim Ducks at Mullett Arena at 1 p.m.
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Alec Cipollini is a journalist covering the Arizona Coyotes, Cardinals and Phoenix Rising for Burn City Sports. You can follow him on his X account @AlecCipollini
