The always-in-it Avalanche did it again. The NHL’s comeback kings rallied for their 18th come-from-behind win this season — and 10th in the third period — in defeating the New York Islanders 5-3 on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
Wingers Gabe Landeskog (power play) and Andre Burakovsky scored from a 3-2 deficit and defenseman Erik Johnson added an empty-netter as the NHL-leading Avs became the league’s first team to reach 40 wins.
“It’s definitely fun,” Burakovsky said of the comebacks. “It shows our character.”
Colorado (40-10-4) stretched its winning streak to four games and improved to 23-3-2 at home and 39-3-3 since March 10, 2021.
Second-year Avs defenseman Devon Toews, the former Islander, finished with a goal, two assists and a plus-3 rating in his first game against his former team.
“The commitment side of it, it’s nice when you can have a comeback. It’s good for morale. It’s good to see that you’re able to come back in games, but we’ve been doing it a few times here where we’re hurting ourselves,” Toews said. “It’s not like other teams are working for the chances; we’re giving it right to them at times. Those are the ones that hurt but we’re showing our resiliency and that’s important as well.”
The Islanders appeared to score with 8:11 remaining in regulation for a 4-3 lead but video replay proved the puck did not completely cross the goal line. Fifty-nine seconds later, Burakovsky scored his third goal in as many games after snapping a 17-game goals drought. He took a circle-to-circle pass from center Nazem Kadri and unloaded his strong wrist shot past goalie Ilya Sorokin.
“I was creating before, too, and I got the chances — just maybe a little bit of luck and bounces didn’t go my way before,” Burakovsky said. “If you look at the (game-winning) goal, I think I hit the D-man’s stick or something and it went five-hole on the goalie, so yeah, the luck has turned.”
Landeskog banked a shot off Sorokin 4:43 into the third period for his team-leading 29th goal. Center Nathan MacKinnon and Toews also scored for Colorado.
The Avs couldn’t sustain 1-0 and 2-1 leads and trailed 3-2 going into the third period. New York scored the last two goals of the middle frame, beginning with forward Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s tally 45 seconds after Toews gave the Avs a 2-1 lead.
Kyle Palmieri gave the Islanders their first lead of the game at 12:23 of the period, slapping in a loose puck in front of the crease to cap a long shift in Colorado’s zone.
The Avalanche took a 1-0 lead on MacKinnon’s wrist shot from the high slot. He took a drop pass from defenseman Cale Makar and wristed the puck behind Sorokin. Makar, who leads all NHL blueliners in scoring, also assisted in the Avs’ second goal for a 2-1 lead — the Toews’ goal in which forward Andre Burakovsky primarily set it up with a pass from the wall.
Footnotes. First-year Avs defenseman Jack Johnson became the 119th D-man — 21st among U.S.-born players — to reach 1,000 NHL regular-season games. The 35-year-old signed with the Avs on a professional tryout contract before training camp and played his 50th game with the club on Tuesday. “I’m extremely appreciative for the opportunity and the chance to be here,” Johnson said pregame. “I got to talk to the guys this morning, and special occasions are made that much better when you have special people to share them with. I couldn’t ask for a better group of teammates, coaching staff, management and everything.” … The Avs scratches were forward Valeri Nichushkin (lower-body injury) and defenseman Bo Byram (personal leave). … Colorado will travel to Arizona on Wednesday to prepare for Thursday’s game against the Coyotes. The club returns for Saturday night’s home game against the Calgary Flames. The Avs then begin a three-game road trip that begins Monday against the Islanders at the new UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y.
