3 Takeaways: Islanders Fall Short in 7-4 Loss to Avalanche

The New York Islanders winless streak reached three games on Tuesday night, as they fell 7-4 to the Colorado Avalanche at UBS Arena.

Cal Clutterbuck (1G, 1A), Kyle Palmieri (PPG), Simon Holmstrom and Anders Lee scored for the Islanders in the loss. Mikko Rantanen had a four-point night (1G, 3A), Cale Makar had a three-point game (1G, 2A) and Ryan Johansen scored twice while Nathan MacKinnon, Bowen Byrum and Ross Colton (ENG) netted tallies.

Ilya Sorokin stopped 34 of 39 shots in the loss, while Alexandar Georgiev stopped 28 of 32 shots in the win.

With the loss, the Islanders lose their second straight game in regulation and suffer their first regulation home loss of the season. With the win, the Avalanche set an NHL record with their 15^th straight road win, dating back to last season.

AVALANCHE OFFENSE SNOWBALLS ON ISLES:

The Avalanche lived up to their high-octane reputation on Tuesday, speeding through the neutral zone and creating plenty of high-danger chances throughout the night.

The big guns led the way, with Rantanen netting more points on Tuesday than he had in his previous 11 games against the Islanders combined. The Finnish forward – and Avalanche’s leading scorer – dished the primary helpers on Johansen’s power-play goal to open the scoring in the first period and Makar’s high-and-hard backhander to make it 2-1. He scored the eventual winner at 7:47 of the third period and had another primary assist on Johansen’s empty-netter.

Makar had a night as well, netting a goal and two assists. His backhander at 12:52 of the first showcased his forward-like skill on the back end and he finished the night with three points, six shot attempts, two blocked shots and a team-high 24:39 TOI.

MacKinnon was also a difference-maker, scoring to make it 4-3 during a crucial swing at the end of the second period that saw the Isles 3-2 lead flip on its head in a span of 13 seconds. Colorado’s captain also had a game-high eight shots on goal and 11 total attempts.

“That's one of the best offensive teams and top six in the world,” Clutterbuck said. “You're not going to be able to hold a team to one or two every night and sometimes you have to be able to keep pace and we just were one short tonight.”

ISLES SHOW RESILIENCE IN TRACK MEET WITH AVS:

Much like their game against the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, the Islanders went goal-for-goal with one of the NHL’s top offensive teams.

They showed some resilience along the way, rallying back from 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3 deficits to tie the score.

Clutterbuck scored his first goal of the season at 10:03 of the first period, deflecting a Noah Dobson point shot past Georgiev.

After a lopsided first period, that saw the Isles get outshot 17-6, the Islanders controlled much of the second period. Palmieri tied the score 2-2 by stuffing in a power-play goal at 2:56, while Holmstrom gave them the Isles their only lead of the game at 5:55.

The turning point came when the Isles allowed a pair of goals 13 seconds apart in the final minute of the second period. Byram tied the score 3-3 with a point shot at 19:18 shortly before MacKinnon pounced on a puck at the left dot, snapping it far side past Sorokin. Instead of going into the third period with a lead, the Isles found themselves playing catch-up again.

Down 4-3, Lee scored his first goal of the season at 4:40, winning a battle along the wall against Johansen before beating Georgiev with a wrister from the slot. That was as close as the Isles came, as Rantanen scored the eventual winner at 7:47 before the Avs potted two empty-netters to finalize the 7-4 scoreline.

“The meat of the second period was great, we just had a bad minute in the end,” Lee said. “The other little things, little mistakes and we can clean it up a little bit, but it's good hockey team over there. We did a lot of things tonight that were good, but not enough obviously.”

HOLMSTROM TAKES HIS SHOT:

Simon Holmstrom started shooting on Tuesday night and as a result, he started scoring.

Holmstrom netted his first goal of the season in the second period against Colorado, pouncing on a Clutterbuck feed in the slot and immediately snapping it top shelf on Alexander Georgiev.

The 22-year-old took three shots on Tuesday, after only taking one shot in his first three games of the season. After largely skating with Mathew Barzal and Bo Horvat through the first three games, and sitting out on Saturday in Buffalo, Holmstrom skated with JG Pageau (2A) and Oliver Wahlstrom, though Clutterbuck and Wahlstrom switched places mid contest. Holmstrom had some jump in his step early, generating a quality look on a shorthanded two-on-one with Pageau in the first period.

“We've been imploring him to shoot, he's got a great shot,” Head Coach Lane Lambert said. “He had a great chance in the third period to tie the game as well.”

While the goal was a positive for Holmstrom, the young forward still had some work to do on the defensive side of the puck, as he got caught deep in the zone as opposed to covering the point on Byram’s tying goal. Still, Lambert was encouraged by the young player’s defensive work against a top team.

“That's one of the reasons why he's playing there,” Lambert said. “He is solid defensively and gives you an opportunity to be in a position to use him in that situation.”

NEXT GAME:

The Islanders host the Ottawa Senators on Thursday night at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m.