Rapid Reaction: Islanders With a Late Push, Fall 5-4 to Avalanche

Elmont–The New York Islanders, after knocking off the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon by a score of 2-1, fell victim to the dominance of the Colorado Avalanche. It was a close, score-wise through two periods, and then late in the third but the Islanders ultimately lost 5-4. New York drops to 21-24-8 on the season, 11-12-4 on home ice.

ISLANDERS LINES

Bellows–Pageau–Palmieri

Beauvillier–Nelson–Bailey

Lee–Parise–Wahlstrom

Martin–Cizikas–Clutterbuck

Pelech–Pulock

Greene–Dobson

Aho–Mayfield

Varlamov

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anders Lee gave the New York Islanders a 1-0 lead at 8:59 of the first period. He finished off a slot pass from Noah Dobson on the power play for his 15th goal of the season. Dobson and Anthony Beauvillier were credited with the assists.

Cale Makar, while on the power play, tied the contest at one at 14:18 of the first period as he beat Semyon Varlamov off the glove-side post and in for his 19th of the season. Nazem Kadri and Nathan Mackinnon were credited with the assists.

Nathan Mackinnon gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead on the power play at 4:06 of the third period. After a few strong chances, Mackinnon beat Varlamov glove side for his 18th of the season. Landeskog and Makar were credited with the assists.

J.T. Compher made it 3-1, as he sniped Varlamov over the blocker for his 11th of the season. Alex Newhook and Luke O’Connor were credited with the assists at 6:34 of the third.

Cale Makar scored his second of the game at 7:41 of the third period, as he tapped the puck in at the back post for his 20th of the season, and second of the game. Mackinnon and Burakovsky were credited with the assists.

Devon Toews made it 5-1 as he beat Varlamov blocker side from point-blank for his 12th of the season. Landeskog and Kadri were credited with the assists.

Anders Lee scored his second of the contest with 11:58 of the third period to make it a 5-2 game. It was his second of the game and his 200th of his career.

Casey Cizikas made it 5-3 as Casey Cizikas cleaned up a rebound at 13:28 of the third period. Cizikas’s seventh of the season was assisted by Kyle Palmieri and Ryan Pulock.

Brock Nelson scored his 21st of the season to make it 5-4 with 26 seconds to play in the third. Lee was credited with the assists.

The Positives

The biggest bright spot was the play of netminder Semyon Varlamov, who stood on his head throughout the whole night as he face 49 shots and stopped 44.

“He gave us an absolute chance,” Anders Lee said following the game. “I think the message halfway through the third before they put on the onslaught…was let’s go get him one, let’s get him one. He deserved that and he deserved it earlier than he got it.”

The Islanders power play was two for four on the night. Anders Lee scored both to reach 200 for his career. Lee is now six goals away from tying Islanders legend John Tonelli.

Noah Dobson, with two power-play assists, reached the 30-point mark for the first time in his NHL career. His deceptiveness has been on display as of late and was on display Monday night.

The Negatives

The New York Islanders were outplayed for the entirety of the contest. The Islanders had scored first but the Avalanche from the opening puck drop had chance after chance. If it was not for Varlamov, the game would have been over in the first period.

The Islanders failed to manage the puck which impacted their ability to generate offense.

It was just a game where the Islanders played to their standings location, while the Avalanche did the same.

The Islanders had 12 turnovers on the night, as Sebastian Aho led the team with three.

“They’re a transition team and when you turn over the pucks you are just going to feed right into their game,” Noah Dobson said. “And obviously they got some speed and skill and guys that can feed off that so I just think we need to do a better job at just managing the puck.”

GAME NOTES

Anders Lee, who missed Saturday’s contest against the St. Louis Blues for personal reasons, was back in the lineup.

Mathew Barzal (day-to-day) missed his fifth straight game. Zdeno Chara is still on IR. There is no timetable for either of their returns to the lineup.

WHAT’S NEXT: The New York Islanders host the Columbus Blue Jackets Thursday night at 7:30 PM ET at UBS Arena.