Coyotes upended by Islanders after yet another early deficit

NEW YORK – The Coyotes made their first trip to Brooklyn on Monday, but don’t expect them to fill a scrapbook to commemorate the visit – not when a string of penalties, flat offense and defensive lapses were among the most glaring memories.

Actually, much of their performance in a 5-2 dismissal by the Islanders in front of 11,841 at Barclays Center, the new home of the Islanders after their offseason move from Long Island, was forgettable.

“We just didn’t execute well enough to get ourselves back in the game,” coach Dave Tippett said.

Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak had his shutout bid spoiled late, but he was steady in a 31-save showing. Anders Lindback, in his third start for the Coyotes, made 27 stops.

Up front, captain John Tavares scored twice and added an assist while winger Kyle Okposo assisted on three. In total, four Islanders finished with multi-point efforts.

Arizona put New York on the power play four times, and the Islanders capitalized on their first look.

With center Antoine Vermette in the box slashing, his first of three penalties, Tavares set up center Frans Nielsen on a 2on-1 and Nielsen’s wrist shot eluded Lindback at 4:51 of the first period.

“Every time you’re defending and in the box, obviously there’s momentum on their side,” Vermette said. “Usually it’s a great opportunity for them.”

The goal marked the sixth straight game the Coyotes have fallen behind first.

“It’s tough chasing all the time,” Vermette continued. “We gotta be prepared from the get-go and try to get a couple good shifts early on and try to build momentum.”

The Islanders had six more minutes with the man advantage scattered across the rest of the first and the second period, and although they didn’t make the Coyotes pay again, they certainly limited Arizona’s offensivezone time.

Halak was tested only 14 times through the first two periods.

“We’re making mistakes,” Tippett said. “Plain and simple, we’re making mistakes that cost us early in the game.”

In the third, the Coyotes finally solved Halak but not before the Islanders upped their lead by three goals.

Only 1:23 into the period, winger Brock Nelson redirected a pass from Casey Cizikas after Okposo won a board battle. At 5:38, the Islanders made it 3-0 when Okposo fed Tavares from behind the net for the one-timer past Lindback.

“We made some errors in D-zone coverage, arriving in the D-zone, that we have to clean up,” Tippett said.

New York added its fourth at 11:50, a shot from defenseman Johnny Boychuk that caromed off of winger Steve Bernier in front of the net.

Center Martin Hanzal grabbed his teamleading 17th point at 15:45 when he poked in his own rebound. With an extra attacker on the ice and on the power play, winger Mikkel Boedker made it 4-2 with only 2:07 to go after cutting through two Islanders players to beat Halak five-hole.