Eurolanche

Islanders return home to face Avs

Season series: This is the second and final game between the Colorado Avalanche and New York Islanders; the Avalanche cruised to a 5-0 win on Oct. 30 at Pepsi Center. Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov made 40 saves for the shutout and Nathan MacKinnon scored two goals.

Avalanche team scope: Colorado has one once since it shut out the Islanders nearly two weeks ago, a span of (1-3-1). The Avalanche opened a four-game road trip Saturday at the Philadelphia Flyers and fell short in a 4-3 loss. Forward Alex Tanguay is the only player on the roster who has more than five goals (six); right wing Jarome Iginla, who signed a three-year, $16 million contract with the Avalanche on July 1, has two goals in 16 games.

 “It's a team thing right now. It's not just Jarome," coach Patrick Roy told The Denver Post on Monday. "Everybody could do more offensively. Right now, I'm very happy with our third line and I'm very happy with our fourth line. Have our first and second lines produced as much as I wish? I'd be a liar if I said yes. We all see the stats. But they're going to play together and we're going to be patient with them, to get used to each other. I think Jarome is going to be a great fit for Landy (Gabriel Landeskog) and [MacKinnon], and they're going to get their confidence back to where it should be."

Islanders team scope: After dropping the first two games of their five-game road trip, the Islanders responded with wins at the Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings and Arizona Coyotes. New York enters the game Tuesday in second place in the Metropolitan Division, three points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“These are top teams we’re playing,” coach Jack Capuano told the Islanders website. “We went into Boston, San Jose, LA, those types of teams. If we play the right way, manage the puck, do the right things and special teams play well for us, then we can play with these teams. To me that's the biggest thing to take away [from the road trip]. It might not been like that a year ago.”

Forward Josh Bailey (hand) practiced Monday but is unlikely to play against Colorado. Defenseman Johnny Boychuk (lower body) did not practice and will be re-evaluated Tuesday. Left wing Eric Boulton left practice Monday with a lower-body injury.

-- by NHL.com --

Related Stories

Meeting of Invasion VII members

Members of the Eurolanche Fan Club met at the weekend meeting in Slovakia