Top 5 NY Islanders' games of calendar year 2022

1. Islanders vs Avalanche 10/29

The Islanders have made plenty of remarkable rallies from behind this season, but none was as improbable as when they stormed back to take down the reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

After the Isles went down 3-0 before the halfway mark, it looked like it was going to be a beat down from the visitors. All three goals were tough for Varlamov to stop, and the Avalanche were dominating the game up until that point. Dobson once again would blast a shot with purpose to give the Islanders life before the second period ended, with the Isles at that point only facing a two-goal deficit.

The third period started off well with Zach Parise keeping the momentum in the Isles' favor after jamming at a loose puck to eventually squeak it past Alexandar Georgiev. Barzal was especially persistent while the Islanders were buzzing, eventually finding Scott Mayfield of all people in front of the net to redirect his pass right through the former Rangers' goaltender to all the sudden tie the score. And just 17 seconds later, Beauvillier would strike again to rip the lead away from the Avalanche on a 2-on-1, which completely ignited the UBS crowd. Nelson eventually scored an empty net goal off of a rare Cale Makar giveaway with his skates, making it five unanswered goals in the Islanders most impressive comeback victory, ending in a 5-4 win for the blue and orange.

And with that, all Isles fans can only hope to see exciting games such as this in 2023 on an even grander stage in the Stanley Cup playoffs once again. They currently sit in the second wild-card spot, but are only four points behind the second-place Devils and have all the potential to make this upcoming year one to remember.