Game Preview: Islanders at Avalanche

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (18-13-1) AT COLORADO AVALANCHE (16-11-2)
9 PM ET | BALL ARENA
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After beating the house on Saturday night in Las Vegas, the New York Islanders have a date with the defending Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche on Monday night in the Mile High City.
Simon Holmstrom's first NHL goal held up as the game winner in a 5-2 win over Vegas, while the Islanders also got goals from Anders Lee, Hudson Fasching and a pair of empty-netters from Zach Parise and Brock Nelson.

It was a solid bounce-back effort after a Friday night loss in Arizona and one the Islanders - who haven't won consecutive games since winning four in a row from Nov. 21-26 - are looking to build on.
"That's what we have to do," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "There's really no reason for it not to be there. It's a big game at kind of the end of this trip before we head back to the New York area. To come away with that and be above .500 on a tough road trip like that, it'll be a good thing."
The Islanders' road trip hasn't been an easy one, but the Isles took a point against the Eastern Conference leading Boston Bruins on Tuesday and scored a win over Western Conference leading Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday. The lone regulation loss came at the hands of the Arizona Coyotes, who swept the season series between the clubs. It won't get any easier against the defending champs, though the Islanders won the first meeting between the teams with a 5-4 comeback win on Oct. 29 at UBS Arena. However the Isles are 1-5-1 in their last seven trips to Denver.
The Avalanche are 3-1-1 in their last five games, most recently beating the Nashville Predators 3-1 on Saturday night. Mikko Rantanen, Alex Newhook and Cale Makar (1G, 1A) scored for the Avalanche, while Alexandar Georgiev stopped 25 of 26 shots.

ISLANDERS NOTES

• Cory Schneider was an emergency recall by the Islanders on Sunday evening, as Semyon Varlamov left Saturday's game late in the third period and did not return. The 34-year-old goaltender stopped 35 of 37 shots before leaving the win over Vegas and is 4-0-1 in his last five starts.
  Varlamov spent eight seasons with the Avalanche and is 2-2-0 against the Avs since joining the Islanders with a 3.07 GAA, a .918 SV% and one shutout.
  Ilya Sorokin has lost five straight starts in regulation, though technically his losing streak ended with his relief appearance on Saturday night.
  Varlamov's next win would tie him with Evgeni Nabokov (57 wins) for 10th on the Islanders all-time wins list. Sorokin's next win would be his 50th, and would pass Chris Osgood for sole possession of 13th on the Islanders all-time list.
  Schneider is 10-3-2 for the Bridgeport Islanders this season with a 2.51 GAA and a .927 SV%.
  - Cal Clutterbuck and Kyle Palmieri both missed Saturday's game with upper-body injuries and are considered day to day. Hudson Fasching and Simon Holmstrom drew into the lineup in place of Clutterbuck and Palmieri on Saturday, with both players scoring a goal.
  - The Islanders power play is 0-for-13 over the past four games after going 0-for-2 on Saturday night.
  - Brock Nelson extended his point streak to three games with a goal and an assist on Saturday. Nelson has five points (1G, 4A) over that span. Nelson leads the Isles with 15 goals and 33 points and the center has not gone consecutive games without a point this season. Nelson's assist on Saturday was the 200th of his career.

AVALANCHE NOTES

• Nathan MacKinnon has missed the past six games with an upper-body injury. MacKinnon has 34 points (8G, 26A) in 23 games for the Avs this season.
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  - Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche in goals (21), points (38) and game-winning goals (3) this season. Rantanen is riding a two-game goal streak and has six goals in his last five games, including a hat trick on Dec. 11. The Finnish forward is tied with Dallas' Jason Robertson for the most even-strength goals with the league with 17.
  - The Avalanche scored a power-play goal on Saturday night, snapping a five-game drought. Colorado's power play is ranked fifth overall this season.
  - Captain Gabriel Landeskog has been sidelined for the entire season thus far after undergoing knee surgery in mid October. Landeskog was expected to miss the first 12 weeks of the season.
  - After being hit with a slew of injuries, the Avalanche have used an NHL-leading 35 players this season. In addition to Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Bowen Byram and Josh Manson are among the Avs injured players.
  - Georgiev earned his first win since Dec. 1, snapping a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) in the process. Georgiev has a history of success against the Islanders with an 8-3-0 record, a 1.96 GAA, a .935 SV% and two shutouts during his time with the Rangers. He is 0-1-0 against the Isles since joining the Avs, stopping 39 of 43 shots in a 5-4 loss earlier this season.