Game Preview: Islanders at Coyotes

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (17-12-1) AT ARIZONA COYOTES (9-14-4)
9:30 PM ET | MULLETT ARENA
WATCH: MSGSN | MSGGO | ESPN+
LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050 AM
The New York Islanders will head out to the desert for the first time this season to face the Arizona Coyotes on Friday on the first leg of a back-to-back. This will be the Islanders' first-ever game at Mullett Arena, the new, temporary home of the Coyotes on the Arizona State University campus.
The Islanders come into Friday off their first overtime loss of the season, falling 4-3 in the shootout to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. Noah Dobson, Josh Bailey and Casey Cizikas scored for the Islanders to force overtime after getting into a 2-0 hole early, but Mathew Barzal was the only Islander to connect in the shootout loss.

The Coyotes lost 3-2 to the San Jose Sharks in their last outing on Tuesday. But prior to that, Arizona tallied two straight wins with a 6-5 OT victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday and a 4-3 win over the Boston Bruins on Friday.
In the Islanders' previous meeting with the Coyotes on Nov. 10, goalie Karel Vejmelka shut the Islanders out 2-0. The loss was a rare one for the Isles against the Yotes, as the Islanders are 10-3-2 in their last 15 games vs the Coyotes.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Noah Dobson scored his 26th career goal on Tuesday against the Bruins, tied for second-most in franchise history before turning 23 with Bryan Berard. He now trails only Denis Potvin (72) for most by an Islander defenseman before turning 23.
  - Sebastian Aho set a career-high playing 24:26 TOI against the Bruins. Alexander Romanov set a season-high with 25:15 TOI in the game.
  - Adam Pelech remained out of the lineup on Tuesday with an upper-body injury and did not make the trip to Boston. Pelech did not join the team on the road trip.
  - Kyle Palmieri and Anthony Beauvillier both traveled with the team to Boston but missed Tuesday's game. Both Palmieri and Beauvillier were full participants in practice on Thursday and are game-time decisions for Friday, per Lambert.
  ISLES VS YOTES
  ISLANDERS ARTICLES
  Isles Practice at Mullett Arena
  Isles DTD: Pelech Placed on IR
  Isles Win Over Fan in Wisconsin
  Talkin' Isles: Barry Landers
  GAME EXTRAS
  Reverse Retro Jersey
  Talkin' Isles
  Isles Season Tickets
  - Brock Nelson had an assist in Tuesday's game. He has not gone pointless in consecutive games this season. Mathew Barzal went pointless in the game, although he did score in the shootout. It is the first time this season he has been pointless in consecutive games.
  - Josh Bailey had his first multi-point effort of the season on Tuesday with a goal and an assist.
  - Casey Cizikas has scored two goals in his last three games.
  - With eight points (3G, 5A), Matt Martin has already beaten his point total from last season in 29 games.

COYOTES NOTES:

• The Coyotes loaned 2021 first round pick Dylan Guenther to play for team Canada in the 2023 World Junior Championship. Guenther has 11 points (3G, 8A) in 21 games this season.
  - The Coyotes' 23.6 SOG per game are the fewest in the NHL by 2.1 shots per game, and their negative 11.6 shot differential is the worst in the NHL.
  - Clayton Keller leads the Coyotes in points with 27 points (10G, 17A) in 27 games this season. Keller is on a three-game point streak with five points (3G, 2A) in those three games, including a hat trick against the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 11.
  - Lawson Crouse leads the Coyotes in goals with 13, his most recent coming against the Sharks on Dec. 13. His career-high in goals is 20, set last season.
  - The Coyotes opened their new temporary home, Mullett Arena, this season, and it has the smallest capacity of any NHL arena, holding 5,026 fans for NHL games.
  - Rookie Matias Maccelli is second in the NHL in rookie points with 20 (2G, 18A) this season.