BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Joe Colborne, who had a hat trick on opening night, finally got his fourth goal of the season for the Avalanche on Sunday night, giving Colorado a 1-0 lead over the New York Islanders midway through the first period.
That was the only bright spot for the Avs, who fall apart from there in a 5-1 loss to the Islanders at the Barclays Center.
“It’s been a frustrating year so far,” said Colborne. “That’s about the only way to describe it. … I thought that after the first game, it was going to be off to the races there, and that just hasn’t been the way it is.”
The former University of Denver forward, 27, signed a two-year, $5-million contract with the Avalanche last summer after the Calgary Flames didn’t make him a qualifying offer and he became an unrestricted free agent. His trials with the Avalanche this season after opening night have included eight healthy scratches.
Colborne said that finally scoring again “is a weight off my shoulders, that’s for sure. You know there are going to be ups and downs, and that’s part of being a pro. You can only control certain things, and the biggest thing I’ve been trying to do is keep my head down and put the work in.”
After Colborne’s goal, the Islanders rallied on the scores from (in order) Nick Leddy, Ryan Strome, two from Anders Lee and, finally, Jason Chimera. Strome’s came on a 5-on-3 power play at 14:46 of the second period, breaking a 1-1 tie.
BOXSCORE: Islanders 5, Avalanche 1
The Avalanche, which fell 4-2 to the Rangers on Saturday in Manhattan, pulled off the feat of seeing leads disappear on back-to-back nights in different New York boroughs. Colorado led the Rangers 2-1 after two periods before giving up three unanswered third-period goals, the final one an empty-netter.
Calvin Pickard, making his fifth straight start, stopped 28-of-33 Islander shots.
“Energy’s not an issue,” Pickard said. “It’s a pretty easy back-to-back here in New York, both games within a few miles. My energy’s good. We just have to find a way to win.”
It didn’t help Pickard that the Avalanche regressed to taking shaky penalties, including a Fedor Tyutin high-sticking minor with Colorado already on the penalty kill following Colborne’s boarding minor in the second period. The Islanders got what turned out to be the game-winner from Strome on that 5-on-3, and they were 2-for-5 on the power play.
“Our penalties were what killed us early,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar. “We had a really good first period and a pretty good start to the second, too. Then we take some penalties. Obviously, we had the sort of needless, careless penalties, one up-ice and then the needless, incidental high stick that puts us down 5-on-3, and they get a big goal there to take the lead. Then in the third, three more penalties, and they get a power play goal and put it out of reach.
“We thought for some time now we’ve done a better job of staying out of the box. Because we did that, our penalty kill started to gain some traction, but tonight … six penalties is just way too many, and that’s where they gained their traction, their momentum, on those power plays.”
Bednar said he liked the work of the Carl Soderberg-centered fourth line, with Andreas Martinsen and Colborne. “There’s some things I really liked about that line tonight – Colborne getting on the board early, which is nice to see … and I really liked Martinsen on the penalty kill tonight. He was outstanding.”
By winning, the Islanders avoid the potential embarrassment of getting swept by the league’s worst team. The Avalanche pulled out a 2-1 overtime win over the Islanders in Denver on Jan. 6, with Nathan MacKinnon getting the game-ending goal.
Footnotes. Defenseman Tyson Barrie, who had missed eight of the previous 10 games with a lower body injury, returned to the lineup (again), logged 17:27 of ice time and had two shots on goal. “He was pretty good,” Bednar said. “He had a couple of shifts where he got a lot of shot attempts, which I like to see. I want to see him shooting the puck. He wasn’t doing that too often when he was in our lineup prior to the injury.” … With Barrie able to go, Patrick Wiercioch was the healthy scratch on defense … The Islanders also had played Saturday, falling 3-0 at Ottawa, and backup goalie Jean-Francois Berube got the start against the Avalanche. He had 26 saves.
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