Game Preview: Islanders vs Avalanche

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (2-1-1) VS COLORADO AVALANCHE (5-0-0)

8 PM | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETS

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The New York Islanders are looking to get back in the win column on Tuesday night as they host the Colorado Avalanche at 8 p.m.

The Islanders are coming off a 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday in the second half of a back-to-back set, where they picked up one of a possible four points. The Sabres built a 3-0 lead through 58 minutes before Noah Dobson buried the Isles lone goal late in the third period to end Eric Comrie’s shutout bid. Semyon Varlamov made his season debut for the Islanders and stopped 40 shots in the loss.

"Tough game the other night, it wasn't our best and now we have to turn the page and learn from it," Anders Lee said on Monday after practice. "We had a good day here. We got back to work and got back to some of the detail that we needed. We have a great team coming into our building. Great opportunity to have a good night."

The Avalanche have won five consecutive contests to start the season, with their most recent victory coming in the form of Saturday’s 6-4 win against the Carolina Hurricanes. Ryan Johansen (1G, 1A), Logan O'Connor (1G, 1A), Fredrik Olofsson, Artturi Lehkonen (1G, 3A), Nathan MacKinnon (1G, 1A) and Mikko Rantanen powered the offense for the Avalanche in the win, while Alexandar Georgiev made 23 saves to win his fifth straight start.

The Islanders went 1-0-1 against the Avalanche last season, including a 1-0 SO loss on Dec. 17 and a 5-4 comeback win on Oct. 29 where the Islanders climbed out of a 3-0 hole to win in regulation.

Every team in the NHL is slated to play on Tuesday as part of NHL’s Frozen Frenzy and the Isles and Avs are slated for 8 p.m., hence the unusual weekday start time.

"They have elite skill and a lot of speed up front," Bo Horvat said. "With [Cale] Makar on the back end and [Nathan] MacKinnon up front, they have some really good fire power. So, we have to keep an eye on those guys, eliminate the time and space and come to play tomorrow."

ISLANDERS NOTES

- Scott Mayfield missed his third-straight game on Saturday with a lower-body injury and did not practice on Monday. The veteran defenseman took part in an optional skate on Friday, but did not draw into the lineup against the Devils.

- Julien Gauthier made his Islander debut on Saturday, skating 12:58 and recording a shot, four hits and a blocked shot.

"I saw speed on Saturday," Head Coach Lane Lambert said. "There were a couple of times when the puck got to him, he had a potential breakaway two times. Some of the details in the game and the system, he has to come up a little better with, but I didn't mind his game at all."

- Oliver Wahlstrom also made his season debut against the Sabres, his first game back after suffering a season-ending injury  on Dec. 27. The 23-year-old winger skated 12:16 and recorded with one shot and three hits alongside Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat, whom he played with for the first time in a real game.

"I was happy for him," Horvat said. "Obviously, I wasn't here when he had the injury, and it can't be easy to be off for that long, but to have him back in the lineup is great to see. He'll continue to get better and better."

- Noah Dobson buried the lone goal in Saturday’s contest to extend his point streak to three games (1G, 2A). The 23-year-old defenseman had 49 points (13G, 36A) through 78 games last season.

- Mat Barzal notched an assist on Saturday to extend his point streak to three games (1G, 2A).

AVALANCHE NOTES

- The Avalanche are looking to break the NHL record for longest road winning streak on Tuesday. With 14 regular season road wins dating to last season, Colorado tied the Buffalo Sabres’ streak in 2006. 

- Colorado has not started 5-0 since the 2019-20 season, where their undefeated streak was ended by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-2 OT loss.

- Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche with eight points (4G, 4A) through the first five games of the season. The 26-year-old forward led the Avalanche in goals with 55 in his eighth full season with Colorado, holding the record for most regular season goals in franchise history.

- Nathan MacKinnon led the team with 111 points (42G, 69A) though 71 games played last season, which ranked fifth in the NHL. The center has six points (3G, 3A) in five games this season and recorded his second multi-point game of the season on Saturday with a goal and an assist against the Hurricanes.

- Alexandar Georgiev earned NHL's Second Star of the Week honors on Monday, in games played between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22. Georgiev went 3-0-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average, .940 save percentage and one shutout over that span. The 27-year-old goaltender earned his fifth straight win on Saturday, tying Semyon Varlamov and three other former Avalanche goalies for the franchise record for consecutive winning starts to begin a season.

- Devon Toews inked a seven-year deal on Oct. 13 with the first year set to kick in next season. The 29-year-old defenseman is coming off two consecutive 50+ point seasons for the Avalanche, recording 141 points (30G, 111A) through four seasons since he was traded from the Islanders in Oct. 2020.

- Miles Wood signed a six-year deal with the Avalanche on Jul. 1 after seven full seasons with the New Jersey Devils.

- Tomas Tatar agreed to a one-year contract with Colorado on Sept. 12.