National Hockey League
NY Islanders 4, Arizona 2
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 24, 2019
Where: Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Referees: Wes McCauley, Corey Syvret
Linesmen: Ryan Gibbons, James Tobias
Attendance: 10752

Josh Bailey scored the tiebreaking goal in the second period Thursday night, and the New York Islanders beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-2 in Uniondale, N.Y., to earn their fifth consecutive victory.

Derick Brassard, Anders Lee and Scott Mayfield also scored for the Islanders, who now have the longest active winning streak in the NHL after losses by the Coyotes and the Capitals on Thursday ended their four-game streaks.

Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders.

Michael Grabner scored in the first period for the Coyotes, who were trying to match their longest winning streak of the past six-plus seasons. Arizona twice won five in a row last season.

Conor Garland scored an extra-attacker goal with 1:05 left in the third to cut the Coyotes' deficit to 3-2, but Mayfield iced the win with an empty-net goal with 11.4 seconds remaining.

Arizona goalie Darcy Kuemper recorded 18 saves.

The Islanders took a quick lead following a hectic sequence in the Coyotes' zone. Brassard and teammate Anthony Beauvillier each had control of the puck for a moment, as did Arizona defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson. The puck finally bounced to Ryan Pulock, who fired a shot from the left faceoff circle that ticked off the stick of Brassard and into the net just 85 seconds after the opening faceoff.

An Islanders turnover in the neutral zone led to a breakaway goal by Grabner, who played for New York from 2010-11 through 2014-15. Bailey's pass along the boards was picked off by Jakob Chychrun, who fired the puck up the ice. Grabner skated past Bailey, caught up to the puck, descended alone upon Varlamov and fired a shot over his glove and in off the post at 10:20 of the opening period.

Bailey made up for his turnover by scoring the go-ahead goal late in the second period. Nick Leddy passed to Bailey, who was stationed in the slot and fired a shot as he fell that sailed past Kuemper and into the upper right corner of the net at 14:03.

An impressive individual effort by Mathew Barzal led to Lee's goal exactly eight minutes into the third. Lee fell down during a scrum in front of the Coyotes' net that ended with Barzal corralling the puck and skating behind the cage with Arizona's Nick Schmaltz behind him. Barzal kept Schmaltz at arm's length before dumping a pass to Devon Toews, who then dished to Bailey. A pass from Bailey found Lee, who fell as he backhanded a shot into the net.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Arizona   NY Islanders
Jakob Chychrun 2 Points Josh Bailey 2
Conor Garland 1 Goals Josh Bailey 1
Jakob Chychrun 2 Assists Brock Nelson 2
N/A Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Darcy Kuemper .857 Save Percentage Semyon Varlamov .913
Darcy Kuemper 18 Saves Semyon Varlamov 21
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Arizona 23 2 0-3 1-1 2 21
NY Islanders 22 4 0-1 3-3 6 32
Upcoming Games
  • NY Islanders will play their next game on the road against Ottawa. The Islanders have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .667 after a loss.
  • Arizona will play their next game on the road against New Jersey. The Coyotes have a W/L % of .600 after a win and .500 after a loss.