NEW YORK -- The longest break of the season thus far awaited the New York Islanders no matter how they fared Monday. But better for the Islanders to head into the mini-vacation off a win than a loss.

The Islanders scored four third-period goals Monday -- including three in a 12-minute span by center Brock Nelson, center John Tavares and right winger Steve Bernier -- to pull away from the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 at Barclays Center.

Center Frans Nielsen scored in the first period for the Islanders (10-6-3), who will enter a three-day break with two straight wins and three wins in their last four games (3-1-0). New York hosts the Atlantic Division-leading Montreal Canadiens on Friday.

"When you lose a game, you almost want to play the next day," Nielsen said with a grin. "So, yeah, when you've got a couple days (off), you definitely want to win so you don't have to go around for two days and be angry."

The time off comes at a good time for the Islanders, who returned home Friday night from a three-game West Coast road trip in which they went 2-1-0 against the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks.

"It was a hard, long trip," Nielsen said. "I think it's good that we've got a couple days here. The body needs it. Sometimes we've got to be smart about the days that we get off."

The Islanders looked fresher Monday than the Coyotes (9-8-1), who are 0-2 on a four-game road trip that will take them to Montreal and Winnipeg later in the week.

New York collected the first seven shots Monday and took the lead on Nielsen's power-play goal 4:51 into the period. Tavares picked up a loose puck after New York won a faceoff deep in the Arizona zone and passed across the goalmouth to Nielsen, who tucked the puck into the left corner of the net.

"After that road trip, it's easy to be one of those games where you feel pretty sluggish and can be sloppy," Tavares said. "And we were really sharp and doing the right things coming out of our own end."

The Islanders outshot the Coyotes 23-14 in the first two periods but didn't double the lead until the 1:23 mark of the third, when Nelson took a pass from Nielsen and scored from almost the same spot as Nielsen in the first.

Tavares scored at the 5:38 mark and a slap shot by defenseman Johnny Boychuk glanced off Bernier's stick with 8:10 left.

"We're hanging around the game, that's what you're hoping for on the road," Coyotes coach Dave Tippett said. "We just didn't execute well enough to get ourselves back in the game."

Islanders goalie Jaroslav Halak (31 saves) stopped the first 28 shots he faced, but center Martin Hanzal ended the shutout bid with 4:15 left. The Coyotes pulled goalie Anders Lindback (27 saves) shortly thereafter and left winger Mikkel Boedker scored with 2:07 left.

"We got ourselves back in it," Tippett said. "You're down 4-0, you might as well push, right? We capitalized on a couple of chances, but it's a little too late."

Tavares' unassisted empty-netter with 39 seconds left ended any hopes the Coyotes had of a miracle comeback. The Islanders have scored multiple goals in the third period in three of their last four games. Of their 54 goals this season, 26 have come after the second period.

"We grinded it out, we kept the puck in the offensive zone, we were moving our feet," Islanders coach Jack Capuano said of Monday's third period. "That's the way we need to play."

The win for Halak snapped a three-game losing streak and gave him just his second win in his last six starts (2-3-1), a span in which he's given up only 12 goals.

Lindback, who allowed a total of eight goals in his first five appearances this season, fell to 2-3-0.

NOTES: A moment of silence was held prior to the game in honor of the victims of the terrorist attack Friday in Paris. Afterward, both the French and American national anthems were sung. ... The Islanders had a trio of healthy scratches: LW Taylor Beck, G Jean-Francois Berube and D Adam Pelech . ... Islanders D Marek Zidlicky, who was a healthy scratch Friday, was active Monday, when he played in his 800th NHL game. ... The Coyotes scratched RW Steve Downie (upper body), who missed his fourth straight game, as well as D Stefan Elliott and LW John Scott. ... The Coyotes had at least 19 points in their first 17 games for the ninth time in 19 seasons since the franchise moved from Winnipeg following the 1995-96 season.