Colorado Hosts New York Islanders on Monday

The Colorado Avalanche's four-game homestand continues against the New York Islanders on Monday night at Pepsi Center.
It is the first of two meetings between the Avalanche and Islanders this season, and New York's only visit to the Mile High City. The Avs will make their one trip to Brooklyn on Feb. 9. The Avs have won their last four home games against the Islanders and are 12-2-3 at home against New York since relocating to Denver in 1995-96.

Last Time Out

Mikko Rantanen scored two power-play goals and added an assist, Nathan MacKinnon had four points (goal and three assists) and Gabriel Landeskog also scored twice to lead the Avalanche to a 6-4 win over the Dallas Stars at Pepsi Center on Saturday night. Matt Calvert also tallied for Colorado, which scored six or more goals for the seventh time this season. The Avs finished 3-for-7 on the power play, and goaltender Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves.
The Islanders are coming off a 4-3 shootout win against the Detroit Red Wings at the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday. Mathew Barzal had a goal and an assist and scored the deciding marker in the shootout to help New York secure the victory. The Islanders were 1-for-6 with the man advantage and finished with a 48-21 advantage in shots. Netminder Thomas Griess stopped 18 pucks to improve to 11-6-1 on the season.

Last Time They Met

The Avalanche rang in the 2018 calendar year with a 6-1 win over the Islanders on Dec. 31, 2017. Gabriel Landeskog netted two power-play goals and had an assist to pace Colorado. Nathan MacKinnon added three assists, while Carl Soderberg also had a multi-point outing (goal and an assist). Josh Bailey scored for the Islanders, who pulled goaltender Jaroslav Halak in favor for Thomas Greiss after two periods.

What To Watch

Power Up
Colorado's power play remains one of the best in the league entering Monday's contest. The Avs went 3-for-7 on the man advantage against Dallas on Saturday night and is now 34-for-114 (29.8 percent) this season, the second-best power play in the NHL. Colorado has now scored three power-play goals in three different contests in 2018-19.
Avs Against The East
The Avs are 10-4-2 against Eastern Conference teams this season, including a 4-1-1 record at home. Colorado will face one more team from the opposing conference--Montreal on Wednesday--before closing out the homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
Scoring Punch
Colorado ranks third in the NHL in total goals (121) and goals per game (3.67). The Avs are second in third-period markers (50) and are leading all teams in combined second and third-period scoring (91). Saturday marked the seventh time this season that Colorado has scored six or more goals in a game, tied for the second most in the league (Tampa, eight). Four of those outings have come on home ice.

Players To Watch

Colorado: Left Wing Gabriel Landeskog
Landeskog surpassed the 20-goal mark on Saturday and now has 21 tallies on the season, tied for fourth in the NHL. The Avs captain is tied with the Buffalo Sabres' Jeff Skinner for the league lead with six game-winning goals and is also the NHL's leader in goals scored in the third period with 14.
New York: Center Mathew Barzal
Barzal leads the Islanders in both points (27) and assists (23) this season and scored his second career shootout goal on Saturday to lift the Islanders to the win over Detroit. The 2017 Calder Memorial Trophy winner has seven multi-point outings this campaign, which is tops on New York.

The Details

Monday's game against the Islanders begins at 7 p.m., and tickets are still available. The game can be watched live locally on Altitude or streamed on select devices with the Altitude Now app (in market) or NHL.tv (out of market). The radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio FM 92.5 in the Denver area or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.