The New York Islanders haven’t found much consistency playing against the Eastern Conference but they’re hoping to find some when they take on the Western Conference’s Colorado Avalanche.
New York has gone 2-3-2 against the East over the past two weeks and now continues its four-game road trip Tuesday night at the Avalanche.
It is the teams’ second and final matchup this season. Colorado won 7-4 in New York on Oct. 24.
The good news for the Islanders is they won’t face the Pittsburgh Penguins for a while. Since the end of the holiday break, the Penguins have beaten New York twice by a combined 10-1, which started with a 7-0 home loss on Dec. 27.
“The concerning part is just our lack of ability to stop the bleeding and have a response,” Anders Lee said. “You’re going to have moments where they pop one or two quick, but to let it get to where it got it’s just part of our DNA… The lack of the bite to end that is the part that’s going to sit with us the next couple of days until we can rectify it.”
The Islanders juggled their lineup in Sunday’s loss to Pittsburgh, something that could continue on the trip out west. Scott Mayfield returned after missing eight games with an upper-body injury. Casey Cizikas missed the 5-1 win over Washington on Friday with an illness but played Sunday. Hudson Fasching moved to the second line, replacing the struggling Pierre Engvall.
Engvall has gone 10 games without a point and was scratched for the second time this season.
“Every night there’s going to be somebody scratched,” coach Lane Lambert said. “We have a number of players here, so if you’re the guy who gets scratched, you have to come in and play better next game.”
Despite missing Ross Colton, who has been out the last two games with a leg injury suffered at Arizona on Dec. 27, Colorado is slowly rounding into health and is 4-0-1 in its last five games.
Artturi Lehkonen (neck) has not played since Nov. 9 but has resumed skating, and Sam Girard returned Sunday. Girard last played Nov. 18, six days before entering the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program, citing anxiety and depression leading to alcohol abuse.
Girard logged 16:02 of ice time in Sunday’s 3-1 win over San Jose.
“You watch his game, it was solid,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “He’s missed some time — I didn’t expect perfection right away. He’s just steady, he doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. So, it’s another veteran guy that helps you at both ends of the rink, whether it’s penalty kill or power play. He plays everything for us.”
If Lehkonen can return soon it will strengthen Colorado’s offense, although the top line has done plenty of damage lately. In Sunday’s win, Valeri Nichushkin had the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, Mikko Rantanen scored the first goal and Nathan MacKinnon had two assists.
MacKinnon and Rantanen have 19 goals apiece and Nichushkin has 17 to lead the team. MacKinnon is carrying a 19-game point streak at home and is second in the NHL in scoring with 58 points entering Monday.
–Field Level Media
