Tavares scores hat trick, Islanders keep Coyotes winless

NEW YORK -- John Tavares had a hat trick and an assist, and Adam Pelech had three assists to help the New York Islanders to a 5-3 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Barclays Center on Tuesday.

Brock Nelson and Scott Mayfield scored in the third period, and Jaroslav Halak made 32 saves for New York (5-3-1), which has won three in a row. Jordan Eberle had two assists.
WATCH: [All Coyotes vs. Islanders highlights]
"He was owning the puck, possessing the puck," Islanders coach Doug Weight said of Tavares, who has seven points in the past two games. "He led us tonight. I'm not all that pleased with the game, so we needed his leadership tonight."
Anthony Duclair, Mario Kempe and Nick Cousins scored for Arizona, which hasn't won a game this season (0-8-1). Louis Domingue made 20 saves. Clayton Keller had two assists.
"We tied the game (in the third period). We were in good shape," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. "We kind of decided to do a couple of things different instead of getting it deep. We did a nice job of getting it deep against their team; we didn't get it in deep a couple of times, and then it's in our net."
Each of Tavares' goals was scored in front on a redirection.
The center's first goal tied it 1-1 at 3:41 of the second period when he drove to the net and scored off Eberle's feed from the left circle. He then gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead at 14:25 of the second.

"I was telling Anders (Lee), I don't know if it was today or a couple of days ago, I don't think I tipped or deflected one in last year, and I had three of them today," Tavares said. "Nice to get them. Obviously coming in a win makes it that much better."
Kempe tied it 2-2 at 1:32 of the third period with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Nelson put the Islanders back in front when he beat Domingue with a wrist shot from the right circle at 4:21 of the third period. It was New York's second power-play goal in 27 attempts this season.
But the Coyotes tied it again when Cousins sent a wrist shot from the slot that found its way through a crowd in front to make it 3-3 at 8:57 of the third.

Tavares broke the tie, scoring his third goal of the game with 7:19 remaining in the third.
Duclair gave the Coyotes a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 4:47 of the first period.
Arizona had a two-man advantage for 36 seconds later in the first period but failed to score. The Coyotes outshot the Islanders 14-6 in the first.
"We were lifeless at that time," Weight said. "A little flat. That was a huge kill."
Tavares got his fourth point of the game with an assist on Mayfield's goal that made it 5-3 with 2:57 remaining in the third period.

Goal of the game

Tavares' third goal of the game came when he redirected Pelech's shot from the point past Domingue for the seventh hat trick of his NHL career.

Save of the game

Halak made back-to-back pad saves from point-blank range against Keller with 11:25 remaining in the second period to keep the game tied 1-1.

Highlight of the game

Pelech took a shot from the right circle that was blocked, but he regained control of the puck and fed Tavares, who redirected the pass off his skate to his stick before putting it past Domingue for his second goal of the game to give the Islanders a 2-1 lead.

They said it

"It's really frustrating. I think we're really fragile right now, especially in third periods. It's 3-3 with seven minutes left, they score. I think to win in this league, you've got to play 60 minutes, not 53. Back to the drawing board again. I think guys in this room are pretty sick of losing." -- Coyotes forward Nick Cousins
"You've got to be realistic too and realize this is a tough league and you can't take any team for granted. It's just so competitive, so you're not going to dominate every single game and every single shift. It's just how you respond to when things aren't going your way or we're not as sharp as we'd like to be. That's what I like, just staying with it for 60 minutes and giving ourselves a chance to win." -- Islanders captain John Tavares

Need to know

Arizona is 0-6-1 when scoring first this season. … The Islanders are 23-4-4 against Western Conference opponents at Barclays Center since beginning play there for the 2015-16 season. … With his first goal, the 239th of his NHL career, Tavares passed Bob Bourne for seventh on the Islanders' all-time list. … Mayfield's goal was the first by an Islanders defenseman this season.

What's next

Coyotes: At the New York Rangers on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG, FS-A, NHL.TV)
Islanders: At the Minnesota Wild on Thursday (8 p.m. ET; FS-N, MSG+, NHL.TV)