Avalanche at Islanders
The Colorado Avalanche look to break even as they wrap up their four-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Saturday. After scoring a total of 12 goals in two home victories, Colorado has struggled offensively on its trek, netting four tallies - three in regulation - while going 1-2-0 over the first three games of the trip. The Avalanche began the excursion with a 2-1 overtime triumph at New Jersey before getting outscored 8-2 in losses to the New York Rangers and Philadelphia.
The Islanders are coming off their sixth loss in seven contests (1-5-1), a 4-2 defeat against Calgary on Thursday in the opener of a five-game homestand. Defensemen Thomas Hickey and Calvin de Haan scored to erase a 2-0 deficit, but David Jones snapped the tie with 5:32 remaining in the third period. The Islanders took the opener of the two-game season series as Michael Grabner scored a 1:46 of overtime for a 2-1 home victory on Jan. 10.
TV: 7 p.m. ET, Altitude 2 (Colorado), MSG Plus (New York)
ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (36-16-5): Despite the team's offensive shortcomings, a pair of players are riding career-high point streaks. Captain Gabriel Landeskog has collected three goals and seven assists during his eight-game run, which matches a stretch he enjoyed from Dec. 23-Jan. 8. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon brings a seven-game streak during which he's registered four tallies and six assists into Saturday's contest.
ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (22-29-8): Travis Hamonic was activated from injured reserve Friday and could be in the lineup against the Avalanche. The defenseman has missed 12 games with a concussion suffered on Jan. 12 versus Dallas. "It's going to take him some time," coach Jack Capuano said. "He's been out for a long period of time." Captain John Tavares halted his four-game point drought with an assist on Thursday but has not scored a goal in his last eight contests. Evgeni Nabokov has 57 career shutouts, one behind John Ross Roach for 17th place on the all-time list.
OVERTIME
1. Colorado C Ryan O'Reilly has been kept off the scoresheet three times in his last 13 games but has recorded seven goals and six assists in that span.
2. The Islanders have won six straight home meetings with the Avalanche, last losing on Dec. 8, 1998.
3. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov has lost two straight in regulation after going 15-1-5 in his previous 21 decisions.