Islanders vs. Avalanche: Betting odds, lineups, Isles desperate for win

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UNIONDALE, NEW YORK – JANUARY 06: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders celebrates his game winning goal against the Colorado Avalanche at 5:31 of the third period at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum on January 06, 2020 in Uniondale, New York. The Islanders shut-out to Avalanche 1-0. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The New York Islanders are in Colorado to finish off their four-game road trip desperate for a win against the 15-9-5 at home Colorado Avalanche.

If the New York Islanders road trip was disastrous before losing to the Arizona Coyotes 2-1, what is it now? Sure, they scored a goal, but they still lost the game and with it, the Islanders have lost three regulation games in a row for the first time under Trotz.

Related Story. Isles lose again but at least Greene looked OK

And now they’re in Colorado where they hope to end the road trip on a winning note. Thankfully, the Avalanche aren’t what you would term “hot” right now. They may be 6-3-1 in their last ten, but they’re 0-3-1 in their last four. The only win came against the Ottawa Senators.

Making things worse for the Avalanche are all the injuries that are starting to pile up. In their last game, they lost star-winger Mikko Rantanen who joined Nazem Kadri, Matt Calvert, and starter Philipp Grubauer on the injury list.

Maybe the Islanders are catching the Avalanche at the right time?

The Season Series

These two teams last played at the start of January where the contest ended 1-0 after Anders Lee found the back of the net 6:54 into the third period.

With 65 shots on net between two teams, it was somewhat of a shooter’s gallery out there. That was likely aided by the 34 giveaways through-out the game. Most of those giveaways came from the Islanders who had 22 on the night (65 percent).

Barzal was particularly sloppy with a team-high five giveaways. Barzal was great in Glendale just a few days ago, hopefully, that continues tonight in Denver.

Tale of the Tape

This is a fairly evenly matched game when you look at the big-picture numbers for these teams. Their records are almost identical. Both power plays aren’t very good and they don’t allow very many shots against.

But like with most teams, the Avalanche out-power the Islanders when it comes to goal-scoring. What happened to the New York Islanders team from Jan 21 to Feb 11? They were scoring 3.86 goals-for per game and went 5-1-1? Can we have them back, please?

Betting Odds

The Islanders are once again underdogs here. Courtesy of The Action Network, the Money Line for an Islanders win opened at +144. But with all those injuries to the Avalanche, a bet for the Islanders isn’t a bad idea.

I feel the Islanders finally come away with one. I don’t think it will be pretty, but they’ll push to end the road-trip on a positive note with a win.

103. Prediction. 3. 106. 2

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JANUARY 21: Anders Lee #27 of the New York Islanders celebrates his second period goal against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on January 21, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Keys to the Game

The Power Play

From February 6 to February 17 the Islanders have had 12 power-play opportunities. And they’ve scored on one of them. That’s an eight percent efficiency on the man-advantage. Garbage.

Through that stretch, they have 12 shots for. That stat is buoyed with five shots coming in the 2-1 loss to the Coyotes. Hopefully, that’s a sign of things to come as they Islanders head to Denver.

The simplest solution for a poor power play is to get the puck towards the net. With 243 penalties drawn this season, the Avalanche are the third-most penalized team in the NHL. So the Islanders might find themselves with a few opportunities to get the power play clicking.

Third Line

There was a brief moment there when the third line looked like it had turned a corner. With the introduction of Kieffer Bellows, the line looked complete. Both Derick Brassard and Michael Dal Colle seemed to have found another gear and were giving the Islanders positive contributions on the ice for the first time in a long time.

But on this Western road trip that hasn’t been the case. Say what you want about Dal Colle’s play along the boards or away from the puck, but he hasn’t been much of a factor offensively. That has to change.

It’s not just on Dal Colle. The same criticism can be placed at the feet of veteran Derick Brassard. As the veteran of the line, he should be carrying it. It shouldn’t be up to Kieffer Bellows, a rookie who’s played five games at the NHL level, to give the line some life.

If the third line can find some life tonight, the Islanders will have a good chance at taking two points.

Potential Lineups

New York Islanders

Noah Dobson and Ross Johnston were on the ice late for #Isles. So was Derick Brassard but there's no way he'll be scratched with team thin at center.
— Andrew Gross (@AGrossNewsday) February 19, 2020

I don’t expect the lines to change much before puck drop. I’m sure Barry will have his lines set like they were in Arizona, but it doesn’t mean he’ll stick to them all night. In Arizona, Barry juggled the lines as of the opening face-off by playing Anthony Beauvillier–Brock Nelson-Kieffer Bellows instead of Beau-Nelson-Dal Colle.

Tom Kuhnhackl will seemingly step in for Ross Johnston who was one of the players off late for the Isles.

Lee-Barzal-Eberle
Beauvillier-Nelson-Dal Colle
Bellows-Brassard-Bailey
Martin-Komarov-Kuhnhackl

On the back end its much of the same again with Andy Greene looking comfortable in that top pair LHD slot with Ryan Pulock as his partner.

Greene-Pulock
Toews-Mayfield
Leddy-Boychuk

Varlamov will get the start again for the Isles. He might be 1-2-0 in his last three starts but he’s averaging a 0.942SV% and 2.00GAA. He’s played well of late so there’s no reason to have him sit with points being so important. He also gets to play against his old team, which could get another big performance out of Varlamov in this Western road trip.

Colorado Avalanche

Martin Kaut will be on the third line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Nieto.

Nothing new on the injury front with Philipp Grubauer and Mikko Rantanen. #Avs
— Ryan S. Clark (@ryan_s_clark) February 19, 2020

Landeskog-MacKinnon-Burakovsky
Nuchushkin-Compher-Donskoi
Kaut-Bellemare-Nieto
Tynan-Jost-Kamenev

Graves-Makar
Girard-Johnson
Cole-Zadorov

Francouz (Miska)

Martin Kaut makes his NHL debut. So be on the lookout for him, the Isles always seems to give up goals too rookies making their debut.

The first-round pick from 2018 is having an OK season in the AHL with the Colorado Eagles scoring five goals and sixteen points in 31 games. He steps in now to full a depleted roster due to injury.

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Where to Catch the Game:

TV: MSG+, MSG GO

Radio: 88.7FM, 103.9FM, 1050AM

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