Avalanche Faces Islanders in Second Half of Back-to-Back

The Colorado Avalanche plays the second half of a back-to-back set on Sunday, taking on the New York Islanders at Barclays Center. Colorado is 1-1-0 in the second game of back-to-back sets so far this season.
After Sunday's contest, the Avs won't play again until Friday, Nov. 10, as they face the Ottawa Senators in back-to-back nights in the NHL's Global Series in Stockholm, Sweden.

Colorado is 16-11-3 in 30 all-time games against the Islanders (since 1995-96), including a 5-9-0 record on the road in the series. The Avs last win as the away team against New York was on Feb. 8, 2014, a 5-2 victory. The Avalanche has lost nine of its last 10 road outings against the Isles.

Last Time Out

The Avalanche earned a 5-4 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night at Wells Fargo Center. Tyson Barrie (2a), Matt Duchene (1g, 1a) and Nathan MacKinnon each recorded a two-point night, and Mikko Rantanen tallied a goal while also scoring what was the deciding marker in the shootout. The Avs finished 2-for-3 on the power play, and Semyon Varlamov stopped 33 shots.
The Islanders got multipoint performances from three players but fell to the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Thursday night at Capital One Arena. Anders Lee tallied two goals and an assist to pace the Islanders, who have won five of their last seven games. John Tavares (1g, 1a) and Josh Bailey (0g, 2a) also contributed two points each. The Islanders finished 2-for-4 on the power play while holding the Capitals scoreless on four man-advantage opportunities.

Last Time They Met

The Avs dropped a 5-1 decision to the Islanders on Feb. 12 at Barclays Center. Joe Colborne got Colorado on the board first in the opening stanza, but the Islanders scored five unanswered tallies to take the win. Anders Lee notched two goals for New York, who finished 2-for-5 on the power play. John Tavares and Johnny Boychuk each added two assists.

What to Watch

The First Goal
The Avalanche has scored the first goal in eight of its first 13 outings and is 6-2-0 when potting the game's opening tally.
On the other end, New York has allowed the game's opening goal 10 times in its first 13 games. The Isles are 4-5-1 when their opponent gets on the board first and is undefeated at 3-0-0 when finding the back of the net first.
Special Teams
Colorado's power play and penalty kill have been strong on home ice, and both units were successful in Saturday night's win over the Flyers, propelling the Avs to victory. The Avalanche was 2-for-3 with the man advantage and also notched a shorthanded tally on Saturday.
"Our special teams hadn't been that good on the road, and tonight they were good," head coach Jared Bednar said following Saturday's win. "I think we gave up one on their power play but got a shorthanded and then we got two on our power play. It turned out to be a good night for our special teams."

Player to Watch

Colorado: Defenseman Tyson Barrie
Barrie registered his second multipoint game of the season on Saturday night and now has notched at least a point in nine of his last 10 outings. He's tied for sixth among NHL defensemen in both points (12) and assists (10).
New York: Right Wing Josh Bailey
Bailey's seven-game assist streak and eight-game point streak are the longest active streaks in the NHL. The forward has picked up 12 of his 13 total assists on the season during that seven-game stretch that began on Oct. 19. Bailey has notched six points (2g, 4a) in 11 career games against Colorado but has been held without a point in four consecutive outings against the Avs.

The Details

The Avs and the Isles square off at 4 p.m. MT on Sunday. The game can be watched live on Altitude TV, and the radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM950.