Goals from Nathan Mackinnon and Bowen Byram in the final 30 seconds of the second period proved critical for the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night as they downed the New York Islanders 7-4 in Elmont, N.Y.
Mikko Rantanen scored the tiebreaking goal 7:47 into the third period as the Avalanche improved to 6-0-0 on the season. Colorado won its 15th straight regular-season road game, an NHL record.
Colorado’s Ryan Johansen scored twice, Rantanen had a goal and three assists and Cale Makar added a goal and two assists. Ross Colton also scored, Valeri Nichushkin logged two assists and Alexandar Georgiev stopped 27 shots for the Avalanche.
Cal Clutterbuck led the Islanders with a goal and an assist, while Simon Holmstrom, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee also scored. Noah Dobson and Jean-Gabriel Pageau each notched two assists for New York, and Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves.
New York led 3-2 before the in-form Avalanche pushed on late in the second period. Byram scored his first goal of the season at the 19:18 mark with a wrist shot through traffic from the high slot. MacKinnon subsequently fired a wrist shot over Sorokin’s pad to put Colorado up 4-3 at 19:31.
The Islanders tied the game through Lee 4:40 into the final frame.
Rantanen fired a shot through Sorokin’s legs to give Colorado a 5-4 edge. Johansen and Ross Colton added late empty-netters to cap the scoring.
The teams exchanged offensive bursts through the first two periods, as Johansen opened the scoring for the Avalanche 5:19 into the game on a power play. Makar pushed a puck up the right side boards to Rantanen before he sent a cross-ice pass to Johansen, who promptly one-timed a slap shot past Sorokin.
New York leveled the game 10:03 into the first period, as Dobson sent a point shot on goal, allowing Clutterbuck to redirect the puck past Georgiev on the Islanders’ third shot.
Makar continued to thread through New York’s defense throughout the night, scoring his third goal of the season in the opening frame. He beat three defenders before flipping the puck over Sorokin’s shoulder with a backhand shot to restore the Colorado lead at 2-1.
The Islanders grabbed a power-play goal early in the second period as Kyle Palmieri made it 2-2 at 2:56. Holstrom gave New York its first lead of the night with a quick snap shot off a pass from Clutterbuck at 5:55 of the second.
–Field Level Media
