Recap: Coyotes End Trip with Shutout Loss to Islanders

UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The Coyotes ended a four-game trip vs. Eastern Conference teams with a 2-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Sunday afternoon at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

Arizona outshot the Islanders, 31-26, but New York goalie Robin Lehner was solid in net and led his team to its NHL-leading 10th shutout of the season.
"This hurts," Head Coach Rick Tocchet said. "That was a tough one. We played hard. I thought we played a good game today, we're just having a tough time scoring right now ... I think we pressed a few times."

With the loss, Arizona finished the trip with an 0-3-1 record and failed to gain ground on Colorado in the race for the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference standings. Colorado led the Coyotes by one point before playing at Chicago on Sunday night.
Darcy Kuemper, playing his third game in four days, stopped 24 of 26 shots.
Jordan Eberle gave New York a 1-0 lead when he swatted a rebound past Kuemper at 4:37 of the first period. Brock Nelson scored a wrap-around insurance goal with just 3:14 left in the third period.
Trailing 1-0, Michael Grabner tried to score his seventh shorthanded goal of the season on a breakaway midway through the third, but Lehner foiled the bid by knocking Grabner's wrist shot off course with his glove.
"I thought we played our hearts out in this game," Jason Demers said. "We battled. Obviously back-to-back (games) on the road is always tough, but I thought we weathered the storm in the first, and I thought in the second and the third we kind of took over the game. Their goalie made some big saves … but our guys didn't quit until the end. That's what we've got to take from that game. We've just got to dust ourselves off and get back at it."

• The Coyotes scored just four goals on the four-game trip, which started in Tampa Bay with stops at Florida and New Jersey. The shutout on Sunday was Arizona's seventh zero-goal game this season.
"I thought we had good possession, we had some good chances, but then there were some times when we had some opportunities I think we just rushed a couple of things," Tocchet said of the trip finale. "I thought we could have got to the middle on the point a few times and we just rushed our shot when there was plenty of time to get to the middle and then shoot. I think we just rushed it. I think that's what happens when you don't score, you rush things."
• Brad Richardson led the Coyotes with five shots on goal, and won 10 of 13 face-offs.
"I thought our first (period) was OK," Richardson said. "We were right there, we were down one, but I thought after that we got real good and we had a ton of chances. We just couldn't score in the third. I thought we should have had a couple. Their goalie played good, but we've got to find a way to get some pucks in."

• Lawson Crouse, who ranks second in the NHL in hits, tallied four more to bring his season total to 265.
• Ilya Lyubushkin played for the first time since March 14. He skated 15:29 and delivered four hits, including a highlight-reel blow on Islanders forward Mathew Barzal.