NHL

Colorado Avalanche at New York Islanders

· National Hockey League

Islanders score 4 in third, rally to beat Avalanche 5-4

Brock Nelson, Zach Parise and Noah Dobson also scored for the Islanders, who scored five straight goals after falling behind 3-0 midway through the second period. Semyon Varlamov finished with 33 saves to help New York win its third straight.

“There was plenty of time left. That was our message," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. “I'm glad to see them get rewarded. It was a good character builder for us."

Evan Rodrigues had two goals and an assist, Mikko Rantanen added a goal and an assist, and Alex Newhook also scored for the defending champion Avalanche. Alexandar Georgiev had 39 saves.

Dobson began the Islanders' comeback with his third of the season at 9:53 of the second to make it 3-1.

Georgiev made a sharp glove save on Wahlstrom with 7:17 left in the second to maintain the two-goal margin.

“He gave us a chance to win," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said of his goalie. ”There are no excuses tonight."

Parise got New York within one at 3:35 of the third with his third, jamming the puck past Georgiev in the crease.

Mayfield tied it with his third with 9:21 left in the period after an Islanders power-play expired but New York kept the puck in the Colorado zone. Beauvillier got his third on a shot from the left side with 9:04 remaining that beat Georgiev and sent the UBS Arena crowd into a frenzy.

“It looked like our brains turned off for a little bit," Bednar added. ”They turned up the dial in a number of different ways. That go-ahead goal was the killer."

The comeback victory came a night after the Islanders won 6-2 at Carolina. New York has a three-game trip ahead to Chicago, St. Louis and Detroit.

“There's no panic in our game," Mayfield said. “It's nice to put these two together."

Nelson had an empty-netter with 1:21 to go before Newhook pulled the Avalanche within one with 30 seconds left.

After a scoreless first period, Rodrigues got the Avalanche on the scoreboard with a power-play goal 46 seconds into the second. Rantanen made it 2-0 as he beat Varlamov on a breakaway after leaving the penalty box for his fourth at 7:28. Rodrigues' second of the night made it a three-goal lead 35 seconds later.

But the Islanders bombarded Georgiev with 20 shots in the third, scoring three times before the empty-netter.

“I wish I had a couple (of goals) back,″ Georgiev said. “They scored a couple I wish I had played better on.”

STATS

The Islanders have outscored opponents 17-7 in third periods this season. ... Islanders defensemen now have nine goals and 13 assists through nine games. ... Rodrigues' first goal was the first the Islanders allowed on a power play this season. The Islanders had not allowed a man-advantage goal in their first eight games — an NHL record. With records going back to 1977-78, Minnesota held the previous mark of seven in 2008-09 and Detroit equaled it six years later.

SIDELINED

Avalanche leading scorer Valeri Nichushkin did not play for the second-straight night because of a lower-body injury. Nichushkin has seven goals and five assists in seven games.

MILESTONE

Islanders forward Josh Bailey was presented with a silver stick to commemorate playing in his 1,000 NHL game in Friday night’s 6-2 win at Carolina in which he scored the winning goal. Bailey — who was joined by his family on the ice before Saturday's game — joined center Bryan Trottier (1,123) and defenseman Denis Potvin (1,060) as the only Islanders to reach that mark.

UP NEXT

Avalanche: Play Columbus on Nov. 4 in the first of two games in Finland.

Islanders: At Chicago on Tuesday night.

Regular Season Series

NYI lead series 1-0

Scoring Summary

Goal 2nd Period 0:46 Goal scored by Evan Rodrigues assisted by Mikko Rantanen and Artturi Lehkonen (PPG)
Goal 2nd Period 7:28 Goal scored by Mikko Rantanen assisted by Josh Manson
Goal 2nd Period 8:33 Goal scored by Evan Rodrigues assisted by Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews
Goal 2nd Period 9:53 Goal scored by Noah Dobson assisted by Alexander Romanov and Oliver Wahlstrom
Goal 3rd Period 3:35 Goal scored by Zach Parise assisted by Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Ryan Pulock
Goal 3rd Period 10:39 Goal scored by Scott Mayfield assisted by Mathew Barzal and Casey Cizikas
Goal 3rd Period 10:56 Goal scored by Anthony Beauvillier assisted by Anders Lee
Goal 3rd Period 18:39 Goal scored by Brock Nelson (EN)
Goal 3rd Period 19:30 Goal scored by Alex Newhook assisted by Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/col.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originCOL https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyi.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYI
10 Blocked Shots 15
21 Hits 26
8 Takeaways 5
37 Shots 44
1 Power Play Goals 0
2 Power Play Opportunities 3
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
0 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
32 Faceoffs Won 24
57.1 Faceoff Win Percent 42.9
3 Giveaways 8
3 Total Penalties 2
6 Penalty Minutes 4
New York Islanders New York Islanders Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Maxim Shabanov, RW Day-To-Day Mar 18
Alexander Romanov, D Injured Reserve Mar 12
Pierre Engvall, LW Injured Reserve Mar 12
Semyon Varlamov, G Injured Reserve Mar 12
Kyle Palmieri, C Injured Reserve Nov 30
Colorado Avalanche Colorado Avalanche Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Ross Colton, C Day-To-Day Mar 19
Logan O'Connor, RW Injured Reserve Mar 8
Gabriel Landeskog, LW Out Mar 8
Artturi Lehkonen, LW Out Mar 3

Game Information

UBS Arena

Location: Elmont, NY
Attendance: 17,255 | Capacity:

2025-26 Central Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Colorado 44 13 98 10
Dallas 43 15 96 10
Minnesota 39 18 90 12
Utah 35 27 76 6
Nashville 30 28 69 9
Winnipeg 28 28 67 11
St. Louis 27 30 65 11
Chicago 25 30 62 12

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 43 19 92 6
Pittsburgh 34 18 84 16
NY Islanders 39 24 83 5
Columbus 35 21 81 11
Philadelphia 32 23 76 12
Washington 34 27 76 8
New Jersey 35 31 72 2
NY Rangers 28 32 64 8
Full Standings