Ho-Sang scores first of season, Islanders defeat Coyotes

GLENDALE, Ariz. --Joshua Ho-Sang scored his first goal of the season and Robin Lehner made 36 saves for the New York Islanders in a 3-1 win against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on Tuesday.

Brock Nelson and Anthony Beauvillier scored, and Ryan Pulock had two assists for New York (17-12-4), which has won three straight, including a 4-1 victory against the Colorado Avalanche on Monday.
"It's big on the road like that, against a couple of good teams. To get those two wins is important for us," Pulock said. "We knew we had to buckle down and be better, and I think the last two games we've done a better job."
WATCH: [All Islanders vs. Coyotes highlights]
Lehner, who was 0-4-2 in his previous seven games, has allowed one goal in three of his past four starts.
"We finally got him some goals, which are a helpful way to win at hockey games," Islanders coach Barry Trotz said. "I thought he made some really key saves. I was really happy with him."
Mario Kempe scored his first goal of the season for Arizona (14-17-2), which is 1-6-0 in its past seven games. Darcy Kuemper made 29 saves and is 0-4-1 in his past five starts.
Kempe made it 1-0 at 9:14 of the first period, receiving a stretch pass from Alex Goligoski and scoring from the right circle. It was his first goal since Oct. 24, 2017 (23 games), also against the Islanders.
"They came out really well. I think they were the better team the first 10 minutes and they had some really good opportunities," Lehner said. "After 10 minutes we started playing better."

Ho-Sang, who was playing in his third game since being recalled from Bridgeport of the American Hockey League, tied it 1-1 with a slap shot from a sharp angle along the goal line at 17:04.
"I haven't played in the NHL in almost a year, so it feels really good to score again, just get that good feeling," said Ho-Sang, who hadn't scored since Nov. 22, 2017.
Nelson put the Islanders ahead 2-1 with a wrist shot from the slot at 3:38 of the second period. He was considered a game-time decision after sustaining a lower-body injury during the second period against the Avalanche.
"It was gutsy by him to play with some pain there. It was a big goal for us," Pulock said.

Beauvillier extended the lead to 3-1 at 8:29. After Josh Bailey intercepted Coyotes defenseman Kevin Connauton's pass along the left wall, he sent a pass to Beauvillier, who scored on a one-timer from the right circle.
"Then we chased the game. We don't have a team that can chase a game. We've got to score some goals," Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said.
"The goals they got were [bad] execution by us, a couple of bad passes. In this League, you have to be able to execute, to make an 8-foot pass, an 18-foot pass and we didn't, and it's in our net. We had some chances but we're not scoring right now, and everything is magnified when you're not scoring."

They said it

"Josh, since he's come up, he's really playing the right way. He's got real good hockey sense and he's got the speed and the skill. When he's playing the way he is now, he's going to be hard to send (back to the AHL) if he continues to do that. Give him credit, I thought he was one of our better players." -- Islanders coach Barry Trotz on Joshua Ho-Sang
"It's the first time in seven or eight games when I played that we went up like that. I thought, `Now we're up, I'd better not [mess] this up.' It was nice today to let loose. It was just really nice to get a win, to be honest." -- Islanders goalie Robin Lehner
"If you don't manage the puck, you're going to have a tough time. We were bad for 10 minutes in this game, and some other games in the past, and it kind of just kills us. We're playing pretty good, but pretty good is not good enough in [the NHL]." -- Coyotes defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson

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Need to know

Pulock has four assists in his past two games. … Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey did not play because of an upper-body injury. Luca Sbisa replaced him and had a game-high seven hits in 15:29. … Arizona has lost three straight at Gila River Arena and is 1-6-1 in its past eight home games.

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What's next

Islanders:At the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday (10 p.m. ET; SN360, SNE, SNO, ATTSN-RM, MSG+, NHL.TV)
Coyotes:Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, TSN2, RDS, NHL.TV)