Avalanche rally past Islanders for 40th win of season

The Colorado Avalanche became the first NHL team to win 40 games this season when they rallied with three goals in the third period for a 5-3 victory against the New York Islanders at Ball Arena in Denver on Tuesday.

Andre Burakovsky scored the go-ahead goal at 12:48 of the third to give Colorado a 4-3 lead after Gabriel Landeskog tied it at 4:43.
Devon Toews had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche (40-10-4), who have won four in a row and six of seven. Darcy Kuemper made 28 saves.
"We had a little talk after the second (period)," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I'll stick with what I said the other day; it just kind of drags out the urgency in the group, wanting to win and keep this thing rolling in the right direction. I just felt like our top guys started to get going."

Jean-Gabriel Pageau had a goal and an assist, and Zach Parise had two assists for the Islanders (20-22-8), who were 2-2-1 on a five-game road trip. Ilya Sorokin made 38 saves.
"I thought our game was pretty decent," New York coach Barry Trotz said. "It's a pretty good team over there. … I thought the first two periods were pretty even, then they got it tied up on the end of a power play."
Nathan MacKinnon scored for a fifth straight game at 3:23 of the first period to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. He tapped the puck between the legs of Islanders forward Anders Lee before taking a wrist shot from the high slot.
Ryan Pulock tied it 1-1 at 10:03 with a snap shot through traffic from the point.
Toews gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 3:54 of the second period on a wrist shot from the slot. The goal was his NHL career-high 10th of the season. It was Toews' first game against the Islanders since they traded him to the Avalanche on Oct. 12, 2020.
"It's just nice to win," Toews said. "That's the most important thing. You have friends on other teams and people that are close to you. But at the end of the day, we have to go out there and do our job. We were fortunate tonight to get the win."

Pageau tied it 2-2 on a one-timer from the right circle at 4:39, and Kyle Palmieri gave New York a 3-2 lead at 12:23 by chipping in a rebound off a shot from Andy Greene.
"The bounces didn't end up going our way," Palmieri said. "It's not the time of year for moral victories, but it just didn't bounce our way tonight. I think anyone that watched the game could see that we played a solid game."
Landeskog tied it on a power play, banking a backhand off Sorokin from below the goal line. He has scored 15 goals in his past 16 games.
Sebastian Aho seemed to give New York the lead at 11:49, when his shot went off the left post and hit Kuemper before heading back toward the goal. It was disallowed following a review that determined the puck never crossed the line.
"That was deflating for a couple seconds," Parise said. "We know you have to turn the page and play, but I thought we were pretty sure that was going to be counted a goal too. So, a tough break for us to not come out of that game with a point."

Burakovsky scored on a wrist shot off Greene from the right face-off circle. He has scored in three straight games following a 17-game drought.
"Maybe a little bit of luck and it bounces one way," Burakovsky said. "I think today, if you look at the goal, I think I hit the [defenseman's] stick or something and went five-hole on the goalie. So, lucked turned a little bit. It's nice to see them go in."
Erik Johnson scored an empty-net goal with 43 seconds left for the 5-3 final.
NOTES:The Avalanche needed 54 games to reach 40 wins, matching the Detroit Red Wings in 2007-08 and 1995-96 for the second-fewest in NHL history, behind the Washington Capitals (53 in 2015-16). … MacKinnon has scored six goals during his goal streak. … Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (two assists) has 14 assists during a nine-game point streak. … Colorado defenseman Jack Johnson played his 1,000th NHL game. He had three hits and two blocks in 15:59 of ice time. … Toews scored 46 points (11 goals, 35 assists) in 116 games with New York in his first two NHL seasons. ... Islanders forward Mathew Barzal (lower body) and defenseman Zdeno Chara (upper body) missed a second straight game. Each is expected to be out again against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. … Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was a late scratch because of an upper-body injury. Bednar said he is day to day.