The Colorado Avalanche hosted the New York Islanders on Sunday, November 16 for their Hockey Fights Cancer Night. The Avalanche entered the game on a nine-game winning streak and a five-game winning streak. As for the visiting Islanders, they came into the game on a four-game winning streak, with the last three games coming as overtime victories. Both teams wanted to continue their winning streak on Sunday evening. After the last horn the Avalanche defeated the Islanders 4-1 to continue their winning streak.
Summary of the game
Most of the first period was a “going through the motions” kind of game, lasting just over 17 minutes. The Islanders got on the board first after a puck deflected off Emil Heineman’s skate and somehow got past Scott Wedgewood. The Avalanche tried to generate offense, but passes didn’t seem to connect as they wanted. The energy and effort were there, but nothing was cohesive. Wedgewood was dialed in after the goal and made saves for the Avalanche to keep them within one. The scores were tied at 7-7, but the Islanders led 1-0 after 20 minutes.
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There were a pair of goals in the second period, both by the Avalanche. It took just 4:32 of the middle frame to see the home team equalize when Cale Makar hit Ross Colton with a long pass into the Islanders zone. Colton caught Ilya Sorokin off guard with the quick wrist shot and scored on the short side between the netminder and the right post. Then, less than 1:19 later, Victor Olofsson tipped in a Sam Malinski shot from the blue line to redirect the puck past Sorokin and propel the Avalanche into the lead.
After trailing 1-0 after the first 20 minutes, it took just 5:51 of the second period for the Avalanche to go from 1-0 to 2-1. Wedgewood stood strong for Colorado as he made multiple 10-bell saves throughout the second period. He kept the Avalanche in the game and then kept them ahead in the second intermission. Despite being outscored 12-10 by the Islanders, the Avalanche held a 2-1 lead after the second period.
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The third period looked like the game would remain 2-1 as both Wedgewood and Sorokin traded big save after big save. After killing their fourth penalty, the Avalanche made it 3-1 with 35 seconds left on an empty net goal from Martin Necas. His 13th of the season put the game out of reach for the most part. Then, with 15 seconds left, Brent Burns made it 4-1 after his shot from the blue line near the benches got past Sorokin and really put the game out of reach.
Wedgewood’s 28 saves helped push the Avalanche’s winning streak to six games, and the team is now on a 10-game winning streak. They are 13-1-5 this season and their next game isn’t until Thursday, November 20 against the New York Rangers. As for the Islanders, their winning streak was snapped and they are now 10-7-2 on the season. Their next game is scheduled for Tuesday, November 18 against the Dallas Stars.
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