Coyotes at Islanders
Having moved over the .500 mark for the first time this season, the New York Islanders seek their third consecutive victory when they host the league's only winless team on Tuesday night. The reeling Arizona Coyotes have only one point through their first eight games and have lost their last four visits to New York by a combined 19-6.
The Islanders capped a four-game road trip with a shootout win at the rival Rangers and followed that up with a 5-3 victory over visiting San Jose on Saturday. In the midst of playing 13 of 15 games against teams from the opposing conference, New York owns a 22-4-4 record versus opponents from the West at Barclays Center. The sputtering Coyotes, who earned their only point in a shootout loss to expansion Vegas, suffered their sixth consecutive regulation defeat in a 4-2 loss to Chicago on Saturday. "Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’re going to have to climb out," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet told reporters. "We can’t look for any help other than what’s in that room.”
TV: 7 p.m. ET, FSN Arizona, MSG-Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE COYOTES (0-7-1): Arizona coughed up a pair of third-period goals in the final 4 1/2 minutes in Saturday's loss in Chicago. “It's like a broken record,” Tocchet told reporters. “We're playing competitive. All the analytics stuff, people in that stuff say, 'It's going good.' But obviously, we're not winning." The losses continue to pile up despite the play of 2016 first-round pick Clayton Keller, who has scored three times in the past two games and leads NHL rookies with six goals.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (4-3-1): After being held off the scoresheet for five games in a row, captain John Tavares scored once and set up a pair of tallies by Anders Lee for his second three-point outing of the season. “I never worry about Johnny,” Lee told reporters. “He’s an unbelievable player, he’s our captain. He doesn’t let that stuff take away from his leadership or his work ethic and he was rewarded tonight.” Coach Doug Weight said Jaroslav Halak will be in net against the Coyotes.
OVERTIME
1. New York's power play ranks tied for last in the league, converting on 1 of 25 chances.
2. Arizona's No. 1 line of Keller, Max Domi and Derek Stepan has figured in 11 of the team's 18 goals.
3. Tavares is tied with Bob Bourne for seventh place on the franchise's all-time list with 238 goals.