Islanders find offense, then 'D' goes missing in loss to Avalanche
Ilya Sorokin #30 of the Islanders makes a save during the second period against the Colorado Avalanche at UBS Arena on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023 in Elmont. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Sure, the Avalanche, tied for second in the NHL with 28 goals, have a potent attack. But the Islanders’ foundation of a solid defense has been dented the last two home games.
“I don’t know if we need a system overhaul,” defenseman Ryan Pulock said. “We needed a little more detail in certain areas of our game. I thought we played pretty good hockey outside of a few, key moments where it cost us.”
The undefeated Avalanche, scoring twice within 13.2 seconds in the final minute of the second period on defensive miscues then adding two empty-netters within 29 seconds in the last minute of regulation, set an NHL record with their 15th straight regular-season road win as they topped the Islanders 7-4 on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.
The Islanders (2-2-1) have lost three straight and allowed 15 goals in that span, including a 5-4 overtime loss to the visiting Devils on Friday night in which they allowed four power-play goals.
Ilya Sorokin (34 saves) was spectacular in both games yet his goals-against average has ballooned to 3.00.
“Five on five we’ve been pretty solid,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Tonight, we had a couple of breakdowns that are uncharacteristic. There’s no question that we have some corrections to make. It’s early in the season.”
Pulock cited backchecking as an area for improvement.
The Avalanche’s late second-period goals came as defenseman Bowen Byram was allowed to skate unchecked from the blue line to the slot for a wrist shot that tied the game at 3-3 at 19:18. Nathan MacKinnon then made it 4-3 from the left circle at 19:31 after the Islanders could not successfully rim the puck out of the zone.
“The individual mistakes are within the structure,” Lambert said. “So the structure breaks down.”
“That’s one of the best offensive teams,” Cal Clutterbuck said. “Sometimes the pucks are going to go in and you’re not going to be able to hold a team to one or two every night. Sometimes, you’ve got to be able to keep pace and we were just one short.”
Anders Lee forged a 4-4 tie at 4:40 of the third period as he won a puck battle with Ryan Johansen and beat Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev (28 saves) over his glove. But Mikko Rantanen finished a rush to regain a 5-4 lead for the Avalanche (6-0-0) at 7:47.
Kyle Palmieri’s power-play goal at the crease – just the Islanders second on the man advantage this season – tied it at 2-2 at 2:56 of the second period. Simon Holmstrom, taking Clutterbuck’s feed from the right wall, put the Islanders ahead 3-2 at 5:55 of the second period.
The Islanders put almost no pressure on the Avalanche up ice in the first period. For 19 minutes in the second period, they were constantly pressuring.
“In the first period, we didn’t have as much speed on the puck,” Clutterbuck said. “We did a better job of that through the second half of the game. We’ve still got more.”
Clutterbuck tipped Dobson’s blast from the right point – just the Islanders’ second shot after the Avalanche took the game’s first nine – to tie the game at 1-1 at 10:03 of the first.
But defenseman Cale Makar, skating around Pulock, lifted a short-side backhander to regain a 2-1 lead for the Avalanche at 12:52 of the first period. Johansen’s power-play one-timer from the left had opened the scoring at 5:19.
Sorokin kept the deficit manageable with a paddle save on MacKinnon’s power-play try at 5:52 of the first period and a toe save on Ross Colton’s shot from the left circle at 7:34.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
