3 Takeaways: Islanders Shut Out Coyotes 3-0 on Saturday

The New York Islanders got back in the win column as they shut out the Arizona Coyotes 3-0 on Saturday night at Gila River Arena.
The Islanders faced a hungry Coyotes squad, who have still yet to earn their first win of the season, but were able to claim the convincing victory with goals in all three periods.

Cal Clutterbuck opened up scoring with his first-period tally, while Brock Nelson netted a power-play goal in the middle frame and Anthony Beauvillier delivered the dagger on a third-period breakaway. Ilya Sorokin backstopped his second win of the season and first shutout of his sophomore campaign with a 26 save-performance.
On the flipside, rookie netminder Karel Vejmelka made 21 saves on 24 shots in the loss for the Coyotes.
While the Islanders had to weather spirited offensive spurts from the Coyotes, who outshot them 26-24, the Islanders maintained composure and capitalized in a timely fashion to claim the victory.
"I thought we were good tonight, the whole team," Beauvillier said of the win. "We had chances, we were strong on the puck, we created loose pucks and we did the right thing. We had chances and it was a big win for us."
Read Tyler Brosious' Rapid Recaphere.

IDENTITY LINE MAKES ITS IMPACT

Saturday night featured a vintage performance from the Islanders' 'Identity Line' of Matt Martin, Casey Cizikas and Clutterbuck. The trio exerted their usual hard-hitting, smothering style of play, they combined for 15 hits and even contributed to the scoresheet with Clutterbuck's first-period goal.
"Their whole line was good," Islanders Head Coach Barry Trotz said of the line. "They kept a real strong structure, they got rewarded, they got a goal; a huge goal, the game-winning goal for [Clutterbuck]. That was all because of good structure defensively, good reads and lots of detail. They turned that into offense which is huge in the game for us. They were good. They were solid."
Clutterbuck delivered the game's ice breaker at 16:32.
After grabbing the puck from the Islanders' own zone, he and Cizikas charged up the ice for a 2-on-1 rush. Clutterbuck charged down the left wall and sniped his signature wrist shot from the top of the left circle and past Vajmelka's right shoulder to give the Islanders a 1-0 lead. The goal was the winger's second of the season.

In the second period, Martin injected some energy to the Islanders' bench. The veteran winger took exception when Coyotes forward Liam O'Brien laid a late hit on Cizikas in front of the Islanders bench in the second period. Martin immediately dropped the gloves with O'Brien and the pair received fighting penalties.
Cizikas was his usual energizer-bunny self and was 6-for-10 (60%) in the faceoffs circle.

LINE CHANGES SPARK OFFENSE

Following Thursday's 3-2 OT loss to Columbus, Trotz noted that he needed more from his line of Beauvillier, Nelson and Josh Bailey following the 3-2 OT loss to Columbus on Thursday night. So, Trotz swapped Bailey with Mathew Barzal and Anders Lee and placed Kyle Palmieri with Nelson and Beauvillier.
"Sometimes as you keep lines together they go stale a little bit," Trotz said. "I thought [the Beauvillier, Nelson, Bailey line] went a little bit stale, they spent too much time in their own end. I thought just switching it up and giving them a different guy on the walls; a guy like Palmieri, Bailey with Barzal. I felt that was a necessary change."
The line changes paid off.
The Islanders scored nearly two even-strength goals in the third period from the Beauvillier, Nelson and Palmieri line.
The first came midway through the period as Nelson bolted up the ice and tried to loft a shot over Vejmelka's glove. Vejmelka made the initial stop on the puck, but it spurt out on the doorstep and Palmieri buried the rebound. The Coyotes challenged the play for goaltender interference and upon review, the goal was overturned as a result of Vejmelka having froze the puck.

That same Islanders line ushered a clutch response on the following shift.
After forechecking to regain possession in their own zone, Nelson grabbed the exit pass in the neutral zone. He chipped the puck up ice to Beauvillier for a breakaway. The winger jetted up into the offensive zone, turned on the brakes at the goal mouth, and beat Vejmelka with a toe drag to his backhand to give the Islanders a 3-0 lead at 10:51. The goal was Beauvillier's second of the season.

SOROKIN SECURES FIRST SHUTOUT OF THE SEASON

Sorokin made his fifth-straight start of the season, secured his first shutout of the season and earned his second win of the season.
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"I feel okay, I said last year when you play a lot, you feel more comfortable," Sorokin said postgame. "Today I feel okay, the team helped me today and it's good to win today."
Sorokin came up with timely stops throughout the entirety of the game that provided his team with the opportunity to take advantage when the chances arose.
In the first period, the Islanders were outshot 9-4. The Russian netminder came up with a pivotal stop when the game was still 0-0 midway through the first period as he came up with a full-slide pad save to deny an Arizona tic-tac-toe play on the doorstep.
Sorokin continued to make the necessary saves to keep his team in the game when they were clasping a 1-0 lead early in the second period, which they started on the kill as a result of Palmieri's slashing penalty.
The Coyotes continued to turn on the pressure following their unsuccessful power play, but Sorokin denied them. To show gratitude, the Islanders capitalized on their next opportunity.
They received their second power play of the game when Jay Beagle took a cross-checking penalty on Oliver Wahlstrom late in the period at 18:26.

The Coyotes' penalty kill had cleared its own zone, but the Islanders regained possession. Nelson bolted up the ice and fed a flanking Josh Bailey in the slot. Bailey fired off a quick release that ricocheted off Jakob Chychrun's skate and Nelson's skate to beat Vajmelka. The goal was originally credited to Bailey, but upon further review, it deflected off of Nelson's skate and so he received credit for his second goal of the season.
In the third period after Beauvillier's goal to extend the Islanders' lead 3-0, Sorokin continued to shut the door and fend off the seven shots he faced in that frame.

BONUS TAKE: PAGEAU RETURNS

Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to the lineup after missing Thursday's game against Columbus with an illness that was unrelated to COVID-19. The centerman played between his usual linemates of Zach Parise and Oliver Wahlstrom.

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders continue their road trip as they head to Vegas for their first back-to-back of 19 total sets this season. The Islanders and Vegas Golden Knights clash tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET at T-Mobile Arena.