The New York Islanders defeated the Colorado Avalanche 6-3 at UBS Arena, snapping Colorado's 17-game point streak. Mathew Barzal contributed a goal and two assists, while Ilya Sorokin made 35 saves in the victory. The win improves the Islanders to 15-10-3 overall.
The New York Islanders hosted the Colorado Avalanche for game 28 of the season at UBS Arena, securing a 6-3 victory before a crowd of 14,497. The Islanders built a commanding 4-0 lead midway through the second period and held on, leading for the final 54:04 of the game.
Scoring Summary
In the first period, Kyle MacLean scored his first goal of the season at 5:56, assisted by Ryan Pulock and Marc Gatcomb, followed by Anders Lee's sixth goal at 18:20, assisted by Mathew Barzal, making it 2-0.
The second period saw Bo Horvat's 17th goal at 6:58, assisted by Matthew Schaefer and Ryan Pulock, extending the lead to 3-0. Adam Pelech added his first goal at 7:59, assisted by Barzal and Lee, pushing it to 4-0. Colorado responded with Valeri Nichushkin's sixth goal at 8:39, assisted by Sam Malinski and Brock Nelson, and Martin Necas's 14th at 10:04, assisted by Victor Olofsson and Brent Burns, narrowing the gap to 4-2. Barzal scored his eighth goal on the power play at 18:46, assisted by Max Shabanov and Horvat, making it 5-2.
In the third, Artturi Lehkonen scored for Colorado at 1:27, assisted by Cale Makar and Necas, to make it 5-3. Casey Cizikas sealed the win with an empty-net goal at 18:45.
Key Performances and Milestones
Ilya Sorokin stopped 35 of 38 shots for the win, improving to 9-8-2 on the season. The Islanders outshot Colorado 42-38 and went 1-for-4 on the power play while killing all three Avalanche chances.
Anders Lee tied Brock Nelson for fifth in Islanders history with 295 goals. Adam Pelech ended a 114-game scoreless streak with his goal. Bo Horvat extended his team lead with 17 goals and 29 points. Mathew Barzal became the all-time assists leader at UBS Arena with 13.
The Islanders snapped Colorado's 17-game point streak, their first regulation loss since October 26. New York improves to 7-6-2 at home and heads to Tampa Bay next.