NEW YORK ISLANDERS NOTES:
RECENT TRANSACTIONS & UPDATES
Jan. 3 Robert Bortuzzo has been placed on IR (lower body). Ken Appleby has been emergency recalled.
THE ISLANDERS VS. ARIZONA
LAST FIVE MEETINGS (3-2-0)
Oct. 17, 2023 UBS Arena W, 1-0
Dec. 16, 2022 Mullett Arena L, 5-4
Nov. 10, 2022 UBS Arena L, 2-0
Jan. 21, 2022 UBS Arena W, 4-0
Oct. 23, 2021 Gila River Arena W, 3-0
TEAM NOTES
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
Tonight, the New York Islanders visit the Arizona Coyotes in the second and final matchup between the two clubs this season. Tonight’s game is the third of a four-game road trip for the Islanders, who are 6-3-1 in their last ten meetings against the Coyotes. The Islanders also enter tonight’s game with points in seven of their last ten road contests (5-3-2). They will look to improve to 2-2-1 against Central Division opponents tonight, after falling to Colorado in overtime on Tuesday night in Denver. The last time these teams met was Oct. 17, 2023, when the Islanders held the Coyotes to just 14 shots in a 1-0 shutout victory, backstopped by Ilya Sorokin. Each of Sorokin’s three career victories against Arizona (3-2-0) have been shutouts. Sorokin also enters tonight’s game with a 3-2-1 record in his last six starts on the road.
BLUELINER GOALS
Five different Islander defensemen have found the back of the net in the club’s last five games, including Alexander Romanov, who recorded his third goal of the season on Tuesday in Denver. Romanov’s three goals matches his single-season career-best, set in 2021-22 with the Montreal Canadiens. Islanders defenseman Samuel Bolduc scored his first goal of the season in the Islanders’ matchup on Sunday night in Pittsburgh. Bolduc also tallied an assist on Friday against Washington, the second time in his career he has recorded points in consecutive games. Sebastian Aho scored his first goal of the season on Dec. 23 in Carolina, the 27-year-old’s first goal since Feb. 22, 2023. He also recorded a career-high +4 rating in Raleigh, matching the team’s single-game high and becoming the fourth Islander to achieve the rating in a game this season. Defenseman Mike Reilly also recorded a goal and assist to help the Islanders earn a 5-4 win at PNC Arena. It was Reilly’s second multi-point game in an Islanders sweater, his first time recording separate multi-point contests in a single campaign since the 2021-22 campaign.
PRODUCTIVE DECEMBER
The Islanders finished December with a 8-3-3 record, collecting points in 11 of their 14 matchups. They played a season-high nine home games last month, registering a 6-1-2 record in those games. Their 6-0-3 stretch from Nov. 22 – Dec. 19 was their longest point streak ever at UBS Arena, and their longest on home ice since their 12-0-2 record at Nassau Coliseum to open the 2021 season. Last month, the Islanders also had four skaters with over 30 points (Barzal, Dobson, Horvat, Nelson) through the first 33 games of the season for the first time since the 1986-97 campaign, when six skaters achieved the feat.
ARIZONA COYOTES NOTES:
3 HARD LAPS
• The Coyotes are set to face the New York Islanders for the second time this season, their first meeting since the 10/16 matchup in New York earlier this season. Since relocating to Arizona in 1996, the Coyotes are 13-4-2-1 against the Islanders at home. • Lawson Crouse enters tonight’s game on a three-game point streak, his third point streak this season of three or more games. With a point in tonight’s game, he would reach the 25-point threshold in 37 games, the fewest games to reach the mark in a season in his career (43 GP, 2022-23). • Connor Ingram has a shutout in two of his last four starts and now has four on the season. Ingram has never faced the Islanders in his NHL career; four of his five career shutouts have come in his first career start against the franchise (TBL, VGK, WSH, and SJS).
PACK FACTS .
Clayton Keller (13-18-31) was the first Coyote to reach the 20-point and 30-point marks this season. This is the third consecutive season that he was first on the team to reach both marks. . Logan Cooley became the third-youngest Coyote (19y, 191d) to record three points in a game (Chychrun, 18y, 345d) in their win against Nashville. · Matias Maccelli (6-21-27) tied the ARI/WIN franchise record for most consecutive home games with a point to start a season (8 games), previously set by Igor Korolev in 1995-96. · Nick Schmaltz (10-13-23) leads the team in PPG (6) and is second on the team in PP TOI with 127:12. · The Coyotes are one of three teams in the NHL with 2+ games decided in a shootout and an undefeated record in shootouts (BOS, EDM). · Nick Bjugstad is tied for the league lead in GDG (2) and recorded the team’s first ENG (11/11 at NSH) and SHG (12/4 vs WSH) this season. · Sean Durzi leads the Coyotes in TOI (22:27). Among NHL players with 22+ minutes of TOI/G, he is fifth in shooting percentage (10.7%). . Alex Kerfoot (5-18-23) leads the team in three-point games this season with four. He also carries the fifth-longest active consecutive games played streak at 299 games. . After missing 15 games due to injury, Jack McBain has played in 21 games this season. Among NHL players with 20 or fewer GP, McBain is Tsecond in goals scored (6). . The Coyotes allow 2.61 goals per home game this season, good for seventh-fewest in the NHL. . Michael Carcone is second on the team in goals (14) and had his first career goal streak from 11/28-12/4 (4 games). He is now tied for 17 th in the NHL in even-strength goals (12). . Lawson Crouse (16-8-24) leads the team in goals and tied his career long five-game point earlier this season (10/24-11/4). . Troy Stecher scored his first goal as a Coyote in Nashville in his 73rd game with the team. . Jason Zucker scored his third power play goal of the year against Dallas and is one of 15 players in the NHL with 29 or fewer GP and three or more PPG. . The Coyotes are tied with Pittsburgh for first in the league in net shutouts (total shutouts – total times shutout) at four. . J.J. Moser leads the team in SHP (2) and has been involved in two of Arizona’s three shorthanded goals this season. . Josh Brown lit the lamp for the first time this season against Chicago, and now sits one goal away from ten career NHL goals. . Connor Ingram recorded his fourth shutout of the season against the Ducks and is the only goaltender in the NHL with both four shutouts and multiple points (0-2-2). . Karel Vejmelka set a new career-long shutout sequence at 156:55 (69 saves on 69 shots), the longest shutout sequence in the NHL this season. . The Coyotes are one of three NHL teams with multiple comeback wins of three or more goals this season.
YOTES & ISLANDERS
-Tonight is the second of two ARI-NYI matchups this season. The two teams met in Arizona’s third game of the season, the only game in which the Coyotes have not scored a goal this season. – Jason Zucker has a goal in three of the last four games he has played against the Islanders. One of his 21 career multi-goal games came against the Islanders in 2018. – Matt Dumba has registered a point in six games against the Islanders. Four of these six games have been multi-point performances, making up an eighth of his 32 career multi-point games.
Coyotes franchise vs Islanders
• All-Time: 31-42-12-1
• Home: 20-18-4-1
• Road: 11-24-8-0
• L10: 4-6-0
• STRK: L1
INJURY UPDATE (total man games lost to injury: 101 games)
Barrett Hayton – 20 (11/18-1/2) – Lower-Body
Vladislav Kolyachonok – 16 (11/28-1/2) – Lower-Body
Travis Boyd – 14 (12/2-1/2) – Upper-Body
