UBS Keys to the Game: Islanders vs. Avalanche

NEW YORK ISLANDERS (21-23-8) VS COLORADO AVALANCHE (40-11-5)7:30 PM ET | UBS ARENA | BUY TICKETSWATCH: MSG+ | MSG GO | ESPN+LISTEN: 88.7FM | 103.9FM | 1050AM
The New York Islanders' homestand continues as they take on the Colorado Avalanche on Monday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders and Avs last met seven days ago in Denver, where the Islanders put up a strong performance, but fell 5-3 to Colorado, who became the first team in the league to earn 40 wins this season.

The Islanders picked up a big 2-1 identity win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday afternoon. Oliver Wahlstrom and Brock Nelson (power play) scored, while Kyle Palmieri had two goals disallowed. Ilya Sorokin made 27 saves on 28 shots in the win.
Colorado has not picked up a win since facing the Islanders as they've gone 0-1-1. Most recently, the Avs fell 4-3 in overtime to the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. Colorado's scoring featured goals from big guns as captain Gabriel Landeskog scored 41 seconds into the game, Andre Burakovsky added a power-play goal and Nathan MacKinnon also found the back of the net. Nazem Kadri dished out two assists. Darcy Kuemper made 12 saves on 15 shots in the first period, while Pavel Francouz made 21 saves on 22 shots through the latter two periods.

ISLANDERS NOTES:

• Wahlstrom tallied his 11th goal of the season and first goal since Feb. 1. The 21-year-old winger now has 21 points (12G, 9A) through 47 games.
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• Nelson buried his team-leading 20th goal of the season, a feat he's accomplished six times throughout his career. The goal marked his fourth on the power play and second game-winner. The centerman ranks second in scoring among the squad with 30 points (20G, 10A) through 43 games.
• Sorokin made his 37th start between the pipes and improved his record to 18-12-7. The Russian netmidner owns a 2.38 GAA, a .923 SV% and five shutouts.
• Ahead of the game, the Islanders announced that they recalled Otto Koivula and Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Islanders and that defenseman Zdeno Chara (upper body) was placed on injured reserve retroactive Feb. 26, while Mathew Barzal (lower body) missed his fourth-straight game and remains listed as day-to-day. Isles captain Anders Lee also missed the game due to personal reasons.
• Koivula centered a line between Zach Parise and Wahlstrom.
• Trotz reunited the defensive pair of Adam Pelech and Ryan Pulock.
• The Islanders won the special teams battle over St. Louis and went 1-for-3 on the power play and 2-for-2 on the penalty kill. In the NHL, their power play ranks 25th at 17.6% while their penalty kill ranks ninth at 82.7%.
• The Islanders are 16-5-5 when scoring first and are 5-18-3 when allowing the opening goal.
• The Islanders have been outshot 178-128 over the last five games.

AVALANCHE NOTES:

• Landeskog's icebreaker marked his 30th goal of the season, a feat he has accomplished just twice in his career and now ranks the most goals among his team. Through 48 games, the captain has totaled 56 points (30G, 26A). Landeskog scored in four of his last six games, compiling seven goals in that span.
• Burakovsky buried his 18th goal of the season and fourth power-play goal. The winger has goals in four of his last five games with as many goals during that span. Through 54 games, Burakovsky has tallied 43 points (18G, 25A), just two points shy of matching his career high.
• MacKinnon registered his 17th goal of the season and extended his point streak to 10 games where he's produced 11 points (8G, 3A) during that stretch. The centerman has found the back of the net in six of his last seven games scoring seven goals in that span. Through 41 games this season, the Halifax, NS, native has notched 54 points (17G, 37A).
• Kadri's two-point outing (2A) upped his point total as he continues to lead the Avalanche in scoring with his career-high season of 70 points (22G, 48A) through 53 games. His 70 points are tied for the fourth most in the NHL.
• Cale Makar posted an assist and extended his point streak to 11 games where he piled up 16 points on 16 assists in that span. Makar's career-high season features 60 points (18G, 42A) which puts him atop the leaderboard for all NHL defensemen for scoring and goals.
• Despite being pulled after the first period, Kuemper made his 39th start of the season. The 31-year-old goalie has a 27-6-2 record, a 2.53 GAA, .918 SV% and three shutouts.
• Francouz has made 10 starts this season and posted a 9-3-1 record, a 2.33 GAA, a .923 SV% and two shutouts.
• Forward Tyson Jost left the game after taking a puck to the face.
• Defenseman Bowen Byram remains sidelined with a head injury and has not been in the lineup since Jan. 10.
• The Avalanche boast one of the highest-producing offenses as they rank second in the league for goals for per game at 3.91.
• The faceoff circle is an area of weakness for the Avs, who sit in 31st place with a FOW% of 46.4%.