Eurolanche

Lee powers Islanders past Avs

Anders Lee scored two goals in the third period, including his 20th of the season, to help the New York Islanders to a 5-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Barclays Center on Sunday. Nick Leddy, Ryan Strome and Jason Chimera also scored, and Jean-Francois Berube made 26 saves for New York (25-19-10), which moved within one point of the Toronto Maple Leafs for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.

The Islanders visit Toronto on Tuesday. "It's been a fun month-and-a-half ever since we started this run," Lee said. "We're coming from behind, and it's a position we haven't been in the last few years where we were holding on. We were in a spot almost all year the previous two. It's nice to really have the flow and the momentum of chasing other teams down." 

Leddy, John Tavares and Johnny Boychuk each had two assists. New York has won nine of its past 13 games (9-2-2).  It was a nice response for Berube, who allowed five goals on 25 shots in a 5-4 overtime loss against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 4. "When you have a bad game, you want to bounce back," Berube said. "It kind of took a while before I was back in net, but I think it helped me to work hard in practices and kind of go back to basics. That's what makes me successful, when I don't try to do too much." 

Joe Colborne scored and Calvin Pickard made 28 saves for Colorado (15-36-2), which allowed two power-play goals and has lost the first two of its five-game road trip and three straight overall.  "For some time now, we've done a better job of staying out of the box," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "Because we did that, our penalty kill started to gain some traction. But again tonight, [five] opportunities is just way too many, especially when you're playing a team that's playing real well lately and they're on their home ice. You can't give them that many opportunities." 

Colborne gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead 8:12 into the game when he skated in alone after a pass from Andreas Martinsen and beat Berube with a forehand shot for his first goal since a hat trick on Oct. 15.  Leddy tied it at 12:01 of the first period when he took a pass from Stephen Gionta and beat Pickard with a wrist shot through a screen to make it 1-1. Strome gave the Islanders a 2-1 lead during a two-man advantage at 14:46 of the second period.  Lee scored two goals 10:01 apart in the third period to help put the game away. Chimera made it 5-1 with 6:12 remaining for his eighth goal in the past 15 games.

-- by Brian Compton for NHL.com --