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Sorokin Shines, Holmstrom Sparkles; Islanders Down the Avalanche 5-2

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Islanders Jumbotron After the 5-2 Win Over Colorado // Russ Macias

ELMONT, N.Y. — The New York Islanders (22-20-7) won their fifth straight game and defeated the Colorado Avalanche (29-21-2) 5-2 on Tuesday night in UBS Arena. Simon Holmstrom’s turnaround snipe just 1:56 into the third period put the Islanders up 2-1 before Bo Horvat buried a feed from Anders Lee, which became the game-winner for the Islanders.



Lee also opened the game up in the second period with a nifty move to his backhand and slipped it past Mackenzie Blackwood’s five-hole. Later in the period, Artturi Lehkonen tied the game while lying prone on the ice with an incredible effort.

Scott Perunovich made his Islanders’ debut and did not look out of place. He recorded his first point with the Islanders on Horvat’s winner in the third period. Throughout the night, he showed off his hockey IQ with some excellent passing.

Alexander Romanov laid a monster hit in the first period and then scored the dagger with 2:29 to go in the third. Holmstrom later outskated Cale Makar to slam home an empty netter that solidified the victory for New York.

Ilya Sorokin sparkled all night long and made 30 saves in his victory. Blackwood denied 23 shots in the loss.

First Period:

The game had a very high-paced and frenetic start. In the game’s first minute, Nathan MacKinnon stole the puck from Scott Mayfield, leading to a very dangerous chance, but Jonathan Drouin could not finish it.

Maxim Tsyplakov, on his first shift since returning from suspension, danced around multiple Avalanche defenders before chipping the puck just wide.

The Islanders outshot Colorado 6-2 through six and a half minutes. From that moment on, the game turned. For the next 33 minutes and change, Colorado outshot New York 24-12. That surge lasted all the way through the second period.

MacKinnon danced around the offensive zone and nearly converted on a first-period power play, but Sorokin came to play, denying him and Drouin on the doorstep.

During that same power play, Alexander Romanov absolutely buried Cale Makar with a gorgeous, clean-as-a-whistle hit that sent the superstar defensemen crumbling to the ice.

The Islanders got out of the period unscathed, and the game remained tied at 0.

Second Period:

Four minutes into the second, Anthony DeAngelo sent a cool backhand saucer pass to the stick of Brock Nelson, who sprung Lee behind the defense. Lee charged in and slipped it between the legs of Blackwood for the 1-0 lead. It’s the captain’s team-leading 22nd of the year.

Then, the theme of the second period took over. The Avalanche hemmed the Islanders in for long stretches, keeping Isaiah George and Mayfield on the ice for over three minutes on one shift. That shift led to an Anders Lee penalty.

However, for a second straight kill, the Islanders kept the lethal Avalanche off the board. Sorokin made an excellent positional save on a Miles Wood deflection in front. That moved the Islanders to 18/20 in January on the kill, a 90% success rate.

Eventually, the mounting pressure broke the Islanders. After a controversial icing on Anthony Duclair, the Avalanche capitalized with MacKinnon dancing around a sprawled George and feeding Lehkonen on the backdoor. Lehkonen had fallen over and actually scored while more than half his body was attached to the ice in an impressive feat of skill.

Third Period:

After playing the second period on their heels, the Islanders came out hard in the third. Less than two minutes in, Holmstrom scored a blind turnaround shot. Holmstrom sniped it, too, right off the post and in.

Colorado once again surged after that. Ross Colton’s redirection actually beat Sorokin, but Jack Drury bumped Sorokin’s blocker in the blue paint. Islanders Head Coach Patrick Roy successfully challenged the call and removed the would-be equalizer from the board.

Despite the setback, Colorado kept pushing. It took another incredible play to keep it 2-1. Holmstrom made it, this time defensively. Casey Mittelstadt had come flying from the bench and seemed undetected on the backdoor. When the pass came, Holmstrom intercepted it calmly and broke out of the zone. Incredible two-way play by the blossoming 2019 first-round pick.

After weathering chances galore for Colorado, Mathew Barzal slipped a pass to Perunovich. Perunovich, with an attacker charging in his face, sent the puck back down and around the wall, perfect for Lee. Lee immediately turned and fed Horvat on the backdoor, and his shot got behind Blackwood for the 3-1 lead.

With just over five minutes to go, the Avalanche made it interesting. Drury snuck behind DeAngelo and Romanov and buried his breakaway to make it a late one-goal game.

Two minutes later, Blackwood made a nice save on a Brock Nelson one-timer attempt to keep the Avalanche alive. Less than a minute after that, Romanov stuck the dagger through the relentless Avalanche with a hard wrister that Blackwood never saw to put New York up 4-2 with just over two minutes left.

Holmstrom capped off the festivities with an impressive effort to outskate Makar to a puck chipped out of the zone by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and made it 5-2.

 

 

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