Avalanche pick up first home win since November
DENVER -- Nathan MacKinnon scored with 16.1 seconds left in overtime and the Colorado Avalanche ended seven weeks of home futility with a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders on Friday night.
MacKinnon also had an assist and Gabriel Landeskog got the other goal for Colorado. Calvin Pickard finished with 35 saves for the Avalanche, who stopped a 10-game home winless streak.
Johnny Boychuk scored for New York and Thomas Greiss had 37 saves for the Islanders (15-15-7).
The Avalanche (13-25-1) had not won at home since Nov. 14 and lost 10 of 11 overall before prevailing. Their only win in the last four weeks came Dec. 23 in Chicago. Friday was the first time they have picked up a point at Pepsi Center since a shootout loss to Vancouver on Nov. 26.
With Calvin De Haan off for a minor penalty, MacKinnon gave Colorado its first home win in seven weeks when he scored on a rebound. It was his 10th goal of the season.
The Avalanche are just 5-13-1 overall at home and haven't won a game at Pepsi Center since beating the Los Angeles Kings on Nov. 15.
Landeskog gave Colorado the early lead with a slap shot from the top of the left circle at 6:06 of the first period. It was his seventh goal of the season.
The Avalanche had a chance to increase the lead when Matthew Nieto was hooked by De Haan as he went in alone on Greiss. He was awarded a penalty shot, but Greiss made a glove save on Nieto's low shot to keep the score at 1-0.
Boychuk tied it on a five-on-three late in the second period with a slap shot from the point. It came after Fedor Tyutin went off for hooking and Nikita Zadorov's cross-checking penalty on Shane Prince 43 seconds later.
Prince left the ice and went to the locker room but returned in the third period.
NOTES: The Avalanche claimed LW Matt Nieto off waivers from San Jose on Thursday and he was in the lineup. Nieto had two assists in 16 games for the Sharks. Colorado assigned G Jeremy Smith to the AHL to make room for Nieto on the roster. ... New York recalled D Adam Pelech from Bridgeport on Wednesday. Pelech was activated off IR on Dec. 31 and assigned to the AHL team. Pelech, who was a healthy scratch, has a goal and two assists for the Islanders this season. ... Colorado D Francois Beauchemin was scratched because of illness. Eric Gelinas took his place in the lineup.