Avalanche survive roller coaster third period to beat Islanders

Coming off their first two-game losing streak since October, the Avalanche walked into the new home of the New York Islanders looking to further sink the disappointing season of the Isles and turn around the woes of their last five days.

A tough-luck loss to the Arizona Coyotes and then a thrilling overtime loss to the Flames wasn’t the ideal week for Colorado, but a 5-4 win over the Isles at least got them moving back in the right direction.

No matter where you sit, the final score is a touch deceiving because the teams entered the third period tied at 1-1 as they matched power-play goals in the first period from Anders Lee and Cale Makar.

It was the first goal in 14 games for Makar, who had been sitting on 18 goals on the season since early January. His goal-scoring drought played a major role in the recent struggles of Colorado’s power play but tonight he got an opportunity in close and he went post and in to beat former Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov.

So, a tied game entering the third period.

Familiar enough territory for Colorado and a situation they’ve done well in this year as they were 6-1-1 coming into tonight when tied after two periods.

The Avs didn’t let it get controversial like last week’s game in Colorado where the Isles came within an inch of taking a late lead before replays showed the puck had not entirely crossed the line and the Avs subsequently scored the other way moments later.

No, Colorado ripped off the Varlamov band-aid the Isles had been wearing all game and pulled away with four goals in a 4:21 span to make it 5-1.

The Avs got tallies from Nathan MacKinnon, J.T. Compher, Makar again, and Devon Toews (two goals in two games against his former club this year) and the Avs put on cruise control to a breezy win with them staring down the barrel of a back-to-back tomorrow night in New Jersey.

Andre Burakovsky left the game during the third period mostly for precautionary reasons and x-rays after the game came up negative so he’s listed as day-to-day moving forward but it appears he avoided major injury.

As Burakovsky was getting looked at, the Avs forgot to finish the game with oomph and goaltender Pavel Francouz’s Jekyll and Hyde ways continued a bit as the Isles clawed back to make it 5-4 before ultimately falling short in an epic comeback attempt.

Francouz certainly wasn’t lights-out in the third period as, just my opinion here, the goals against up weren’t major defensive breakdowns and just looked like Francouz got a little leaky at the end.

No harm, no foul as the Avs still walked out with a regulation win and nothing about how it finished should cause too much panic. The Avs got back in the win column on the first of a three-game road trip.

They get the Devils in Jersey tomorrow and then a possible Cup Finals preview between the two teams currently chasing the hardest for the President’s Trophy as the Avs head to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes.

Tonight’s win over the Isles wasn’t quite the standard copy/paste good team beats bad team victory, but it won’t be one that raises any alarms or stands out in any way. A good two points and the Avs are on their way.

TAKEAWAYS

• The Avs moved to 87 points on the season with the win tonight. As Calgary also won, the Avs lead in the west remains “just” 12 points but they are up to a 16-point (!!) lead in the Central Divison. With just 25 games remaining and only 50 points available for the Avs this year, I’m curious how much longer it will be until Colorado starts to hone in on clinching the division title. 16 points is a ton but it’s also only eight games, so two disastrous weeks can make it a race again but if the Avs keep rolling along about a .750 pace as they have been two several months now, it’s not hard to imagine the division lead getting up over 20 and Colorado looking at clinching near the end of the month. I will be very interested in what kind of lineup changes might come down if the Avs do get a very early clinch.
• Anytime it feels like the door is open for Pavel Francouz to stake a claim on the starting gig, he takes a half-step forward and follows it immediately with a half-step back. It never feels out of the realm of possibility but also nights like tonight happen just often enough that it seems like relying on him to permanently take that full step forward to legit starter is unwise. Not to put all the goals against on him because they are never on just one player, but I simply didn’t think he played all that well. Since those back-to-back shutouts, I think he’s been iffy or worse in four of his seven appearances. Quietly, Colorado’s goaltending, on the whole, has taken a small step back, which was inevitable because it was rolling along at a level that was not going to continue. As long as the Avs keep finding wins, it’s all good.
• You might have heard me say this before, but Alex Newhook is going to be a goooood NHL player when he’s all grown up. Even as a fresh-faced rookie who only became old enough to legally drink in the States a month ago, Newhook is making a difference on this club. He’s the thunder and lightning in the bottom six right now and he’s not getting a ton of help. Logan O’Connor has proven over the last two months that he’s overmatched above the fourth line and J.T. Compher remains the same analytics black hole who can score just enough goals like the one tonight where you just bite your lip and hope the cold snap doesn’t last too long until his next goal. Beyond that, you’re talking about borderline replacement-level players right now. Newhook is the shiny object that keeps that group afloat with his offensive ability and legitimate two-way effort. He’s ending up on the wrong side of shot metrics while playing the role he is, but he’s producing enough to suggest that if paired with higher-end talent, he could be looking at a small breakout. He’s really something.
• Weird night for Erik Johnson. He was only on the ice for a single shot on goal against…and it went in. With just 9:52 of TOI, EJ is a guy who is clearly slipping in the eyes of the coaching staff just enough that they will bench him on nights where his puck management is poor. On the one shot on goal against with Johnson on the ice, it was his flubbed clearing attempt that gave the Isles second life and they scored the game’s opening goal seconds later. I don’t think they can or necessarily even want to do it, but with the deadline looming and the Avs feeling antsy to make a huge splash, I just cannot shake that they might be willing to eat whatever the cost is to move Johnson’s $6M out of town. It would be a hefty price, however, and I know they love the person so I’ll chalk this up as something I seriously doubt happens, but Steve Winwood taught me that “when you see a chance, take it.”
• Felt very familiar watching Varlamov put a lethargic team on his back and shut things down just to see the dam break anyway and his team lose in a “too little too late” situation. Felt like the vast majority of his Colorado tenure, if I’m being honest.
• This was Colorado’s first season-series sweep of the Islanders since 1999. That really blew me away given how bad the Isles have been most of the years between then and now.