NEW YORK -- With the only winless record in the NHL, the Arizona Coyotes (0-8-1) are off to the worst start in franchise history and "getting sick of losing."
Few expected this after general manager John Chayka acquired veterans Derek Stepan, Antti Raanta and Niklas Hjalmarsson to lead the young squad during the offseason. But three weeks in, the Coyotes have just a single point and have been outscored 16 to 6 in third periods.
"It's really frustrating," Coyotes forward Nick Cousins said after the most recent loss, a 5-3 setback against the New York Islanders. "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."
Cousins had scored the game-tying goal against the Islanders in the third period, but four minutes later, forward John Tavares completed his seventh career hat trick. His tally was one of three goals allowed by Arizona down the stretch. Entering third periods, the Coyotes have held or shared the lead in five of nine games, only to keep coming up short.
Clayton Keller’s shot gets tipped in front by Nick Cousins and #Yotes tie it up 3-3 in the third vs. NYI pic.twitter.com/FtGTf1hHhj
— Richard Morin (@BigRickMorin) October 25, 2017
On opening night, the Ducks fought back from a three-goal deficit against Arizona. Then, in the game in which they earned their lone point, the Coyotes lost the lead within the opening minutes of the third period.
"Lately, we’ve been scoring the first goal, we always seem to have a good start, but then start to let off the gas," says Cousins. "I think if we figure out that second period and we stay on the gas, we’re going to be coming out more on top of things rather than losing."
A plethora of injuries have contributed to Arizona's horrible start. Raanta has been sidelined with a lower-body ailment since Oct. 13 and defenseman Jakob Chychrun continues to recover from offseason knee surgery. With Raanta out, Louis Domingue has assumed the starting role.
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Domingue holds a .858 save percentage and 4.36 goals against average this season. Only three active goalies have a higher goals against average: Phillip Grubauer, Steve Mason and Antii Niemi.
"We need to get healthy," Chayka told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM . "We need our starting goalie back in the net. We need to get a save at the right time. Whether it's a big goal at the right time or a big save at the right time, for whatever reason we haven't been able to get that."
During their off day, the Coyotes' received news that Brendan Perlini has been activated off injured reserve and has joined the team. Finally, perhaps something is going the Coyotes way.
With the rest of the road trip in front of them, starting with the Rangers on Thursday, the Coyotes have come to the realization that they cannot dwell on a loss or a goal. If they do, the downward trend will continue.
"We’re getting pretty down here when things don’t go our way," Cousins said. "They score a goal and it takes the whole life out of the bench. It’s hockey, they’re going to score goals and we’re going to get our goals too, but at the same time we can't get down. We have to stay positive and I think if we do that we’ll be fine."