Recap: Avs start hot, fade late in 5-2 loss to Islanders

1 week ago  /  Mile High Hockey  /  Read Time: 3 minutes 10 seconds

Brad Penner-Imagn Images


Josh Manson saw a goal overturned due to a controversial goalie interference call, but defensive miscues were the prominent issue Tuesday night. Once again, the Colorado Avalanche were the better team for two periods and faded late into oblivion when it mattered the most.
Colorado (29-21-2) failed to capitalize on a myriad of chances Tuesday night at UBS Arena, and the New York Islanders (22-20-7) pounded on them in a brutal third and defeated the Avs, 5-2. In the end, Colorado was unable to prevent the Islanders from winning their fifth game in a row.
It was a season sweep of the Avs for the Islanders, as they also scored a victory over Colorado 6-2 at Ball Arena on October 14.
First Period
Colorado had a lot of opportunities but just couldn’t capitalize. The chemistry of the Jonathan Drouin-Nathan MacKinnon-Martin Nečas line was evident from the onset as they started the game on a tear. The problem? They couldn’t get the puck in the back of the net.
On the other end of the ice, the Islanders were also getting their fair share of looks at Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 23 of 27 shots. Max Tsyplakov created some space up in the middle to generate a beautiful scoring opportunity, but Blackwood turned the shot aside.
At 16:20, the Avalanche got another chance when J.G. Pageau was sent to the penalty box for two minutes for hooking Logan O’Connor. Colorado turned to Cale Makar. Unfortunately for their star defenseman, he turned directly into Alexander Romanov, who dished out a huge open-ice hit in the neutral zone.
After 20 minutes, the game remained scoreless with the Avalanche leading the shot tally 14-11.
Second Period
4:11 into the second frame, Patrick Roy’s Islanders lit the lamp. Anders Lee buried one for his 22nd goal of the season with some help from Tony DeAngelo and Brock Nelson.
Minutes later, momentum shifted to Colorado once again after Lee was busted for slashing Devon Toews for another power play, which was successfully killed.
With 7:00 remaining, the Avalanche took advantage of a controversial icing call, as MacKinnon found a fallen Artturi Lehkonen across the crease for a beautiful shot from his girdle to make it a 1-1 game. The goal was Lehkonen’s 21st of the season. It was also MacKinnon’s league-leading 77th point of the 2024-25 campaign.
After two periods, both squads went to their respective dressing rooms tied 1-1, while Colorado held a 25-18 advantage in shots.
Third Period
1:54 into the third period, Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski mishandled the puck behind his own net and Simon Holmstrom said, ‘Thank you very much, sir!’ He fired a howitzer past Blackwood for a 2-1 Islanders lead.
The Avs thought they had scored the equalizer when Josh Manson found the net from the right point. However, it was all for naught as the goal was waived off for goalie interference because it was ruled that Jack Drury prevented the goaltender from making the save because he was in the crease.
It was a momentum killer as the Islanders made it a 3-1 game when Lee’s cross-crease pass found Bo Horvat, who rang one high by Blackwood at 11:23. Scott Perunovich, acquired by the Islanders on Monday, registered an assist on the play, and Horvat extended his point streak to six games.
Minutes later, Drury got his revenge when he received a beautiful feed from Nečas and went on a breakaway to beat Ilya Sorokin, who turned away 30 of 32 shots, at 14:55. Drury, along with Nečas, was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes last week for Mikko Rantanen. In their three games since joining Colorado, the duo has been outstanding. Drury has scored twice in three games and Nečas has registered four assists.
But it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows. At 17:31, Romanov beat Blackwood with a wrister that found its way through a quartet of bodies. Holmstrom and Casey Cizikas were credited with assisting on the goal. With just over a minute to go in the game, Holmstrom scored with help from Pageau to finish off the Avs 5-2.

Takeaways
The goalie interference call was not a good one and it seems that Colorado has been getting the raw end of the stick on this particular matter. It would have been interesting to see how the Avalanche responded if the goal was allowed to stand.
However, controversy aside, Colorado did a poor job of protecting the slot a majority of the night and allowed New York’s red-hot offense to chop away at Blackwood. While it would be easy to point the finger at the ref, there were too many missed opportunities, coupled with defensive errors that put the Avalanche in a deep hole.
Upcoming
Colorado returns home on Friday for a rivalry game against the St. Louis Blues at Ball Arena. Puck drop is at 7 p.m. local time....

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