Coyotes’ losing streak reaches nine games with loss to Islanders

NEW YORK — There is no sugarcoating the harsh reality, no spin that can hide the naked truth.

The Coyotes are off to the worst start in franchise history, they are the NHL’s worst team by record and the 2017-18 season feels lost before the first month has even ended.

Change is hard, but it shouldn’t be this hard.

“I think we’re really fragile right now,” said forward Nick Cousins after his team allowed three third-period goals in 5-3 loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday at Barclays Center to fall to 0-8-1, which ties the 2002-03 Atlanta Thrashers and 2005-06 Pittsburgh Penguins for the second longest losing streak to start a season in NHL history. “It’s really frustrating. Guys are really sick of it. It’s nice to see that guys hate losing including myself, but at the same time here, we’ve got to dig deep and starting Thursday, we’ve got to figure this thing out.”

There were silver linings in Tuesday’s loss if you want to play that game.

The Coyotes played probably their best first period of the season, outshooting New York 14-6, defending the passing and shooting lanes with precision and generating three power plays that produced an Anthony Duclair goal and 1-0 lead after one period.

The Islanders pushed back with two John Tavares goals to take a 2-1 lead after two periods. Instead of folding, the Coyotes battled back twice to tie the game on goals from Mario Kempe and Cousins.

The secondary scoring was there. The will to fight was there. Unfortunately for the Coyotes, so was Tavares.

New York’s pending free-agent star staked out a space to the right of goalie Louis Domingue, redirected Adam Pelech’s shot into the net at 12:41 of the third period for a 4-3 lead and a hat trick, and Scott Mayfield closed the scoring off Tavares’ fourth point of the night to give New York a three-game winning streak.

Tocchet had noted before the game what a key component Tavares would be.

“He plays a 200-foot game,” Tocchet said. “He’s one of the special players in the league.”

His team did not receive the message.

“When you go against Johnny Tavares, he’s a hell of a player so you’ve got to get his stick,” Tocchet said after the game. “If you’re near him, get his stick because if you don’t it’s going to be in your net.”

The Coyotes should get reinforcements soon on this trip with forward Brendan Perlini nearing a return and goalie Antti Raanta also a possibility later in the trip. That could help with scoring and better goaltending that they are not getting from Domingue (20 saves) right now.

That hope felt hollow, though, after another loss and another postgame search for elusive answers.

“We had chances to score a few more goals and it didn’t bounce our way,” Kempe said. “We’ve got to stay professional, work hard in practices and eventually we’re going to get a win.”

LONGEST NHL LOSING STREAKS TO START A SEASON
Season  |          Team        |  Streak  |  Start   |        End        |
1943-44 | New York Rangers | 11 | 10/30/1943 – 11/27/1943 |
2002-03 | Atlanta Thrashers | 9 | 10/11/2002 – 10/29/2002 |
2005-06 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 9 | 10/05/2005 – 10/25/2005 |
2016-17 | Arizona Coyotes | 9 | 10/05/2017 – TBD |
2009-10 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 8 | 10/01/2009 – 10/24/2009 |
2011-12 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 8 | 10/07/2011 – 10/22/2011 |
2014-15 | Carolina Hurricanes | 8 | 10/10/2014 – 10/28/2014 |
2015-16 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 8 | 10/09/2015 – 10/22/2015 |

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