Takeaways: Islanders Winning Streak Snapped in 4-1 Loss to Avalanche

The New York Islanders' four-game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-1 loss on Sunday night at Ball Arena.

The 4-1 final doesn’t tell the full story, as it was a tight, hard-fought battle for most of the game. Emil Heineman scored for the Islanders but two quick goals in the second period by Ross Colton and Victor Olofsson put Colorado in the driver’s seat. Martin Necas scored an empty-net goal and former Islander Brock Nelson added a tally late in the game . Ilya Sorokin made 24 of 27 saves in the loss, while Scott Wedgewood made 28 of 29 saves in the win.

“Overall, I thought we had a solid game,” Bo Horvat said. “We would have liked to get a point out of it at least or get the win, but we have to take the positives from tonight and move on.”

Although it marked the first loss of the road trip for the Islanders - who are 4-1-0 on the seven-game trip - Head Coach Patrick Roy said his group played some of their best hockey as the Isles went head-to-head against the top team in the NHL.

TAKEAWAYS

- Down by a goal in the third, it was a familiar script for the Islanders - who found the tying goal late in their previous two games - but they couldn’t find the equalizer against the Avs.

"It's tough, goaltending on both sides was good," Scott Mayfield said. "We had our chances, we just couldn't finish a couple."

- The Avs scored two goals in the span of 1:19 to tie the game and quickly grab the lead early in the second period, which ultimately made the difference in the game. Colton rushed into the Islanders zone and beat Adam Pelech in a foot race before ripping a shot past Sorokin at the 4:32 mark of the middle frame and Olofsson scored 1:19 later with a blast from the point. After the Avs built a 2-1 lead, Sorokin made impressive saves to give the Isles a chance. He came up with a huge blocker save against Artturi Lehkonen, who broke into the zone on a breakaway. He also denied a Martin Necas’ prime chance in front of the crease on the Avs’ second power play of the game. Sorokin played a huge role in the perfect PK, which went 3-for-3 on the night.

- Roy said that Wedgewood made the difference in the game, as the Avs goaltender came up with huge saves, especially against the Isles power play, which went 0-for-4 and recorded nine shots.

“We could have done a better job putting bodies in front of the net to try to take his eyes away from the puck,” Roy said. “But come on, he made some great saves. We had grade-A chances.”

- Palmieri looked dangerous against the Avalanche and had several high-quality looks. Wedgewood had to make a sprawling save on Palmieri on the power play in the second period. He had another strong chance to tie it off the rush in the third and Wedgewood made another strong save against Palmieri in the pocket late in the game.

- Scott Mayfield drew back into the lineup after missing two games. He skated 18:28 TOI and recorded three hits on a pair with Alexander Romanov. Adam Boqvist came out of the lineup as a result.

- Max Shabanov made his return after missing 12 games with an upper-body injury. Roy said that Shabanov played well in his first game back and didn’t shy away from physicality coming off the injury. Roy noted that his line with Cal Ritchie and Casey Cizikas was buzzing and had good puck possession.

- Heineman's deflection extended his goal streak to three games and marked the third straight game where he opened the scoring for the Islanders. The Swedish winger, who scored his ninth goal of the season on his 24^th birthday, is one goal shy of tying a career-high of 10 goals established with Montreal last season through 62 games of his first NHL campaign.

NEXT GAME

The Islanders continue their seven-game road trip with a tilt against the Dallas Stars on Tuesday. Puck drop is set for 8PM EST.