The Avalanche have enjoyed a lot of success lately, and once again, it’s time to test their mettle on the East Coast as they visit Patrick Roy and the New York Islanders at UBS Arena tonight. Nathan MacKinnon is the league’s top point-getter, and the Avalanche are the NHL’s winningest club so far. A miserable injury wave has hit the Islanders. Will the wounded Islanders rally on home ice, or will Colorado log their 20th regulation win in 27 games?

It’s tough to really analyze a team that is experiencing this much success outside of saying, “yeah, it’s working.” The Avalanche are sporting a +50 goal differential and haven’t lost a game in regulation since October 25th. They have shown themselves to be a team that can establish a lead and shut it down. They’ve shown themselves to be a team that can come back and win, and they’ve also blown teams out.

There is possibly one gripe that is reasonable to have, even inside all of Colorado’s winning. The power play has only tallied three road goals all season and still hasn’t quite clicked. A part of that is Cale Makar’s continued not-so-hot streak without a power-play tally since April 6th, 2025. Possibly, they can get one in all three road games this week?

Avs saw the return of Val Nichushkin, who mostly got third-line minutes with Gabe Landeskog, Brock Nelson, and Ross Colton finding their groove. An Avalanche roster that can afford to ease a player like Val Nichushkin back into the fold is clearly a deep one.

The same is true when you look at the goalie room. The Avs called up Trent Miner, and if he makes the trip, he will likely get a start in the Saturday/Sunday back-to-back. That is, unless they let MacKenzie Blackwood play all three games this week, given that he missed a good portion of the start of the season. What a luxury it is to be a team that can afford to let one of the NHL’s best and most winningest net minders, Scott Wedgewood, be overprotective with a tight-back. Ask Edmonton how hard it is to find good goaltending in this league.

MacKenzie Blackwood
Trent Miner

The Islanders have taken two heavy hits on the injury front, both on notable plays. First, we saw Alexander Romanov go crashing into the boards after a familiar fin shoved him (intentional or not) from behind in a dangerous position. This play prompted a heated exchange between Patrick Roy and Mikko Rantanen in which Roy yelled, “You’re not going to f—-ing finish that game,” referencing a March 26, 2026, contest between the Islanders and Stars next calendar year. Mikko has since responded, saying, “I’m a grown man, so that I can stand up for myself.”

The second injury occurred during what I consider one of the most quintessential hockey plays in recent history. Kyle Palmieri went down and immediately knew it wasn’t good. In fact, he tore his ACL and will be out for the rest of the season. That didn’t stop him from stick lifting an opponent and sending a backhand saucer that his teammates would inevitably put in the net. Palmieri was already headed to the room when the goal was scored.

The Islanders are definitely not as dangerous without Romanov and Palmieri. Still, they are going to be competitive every night or risk hearing it from the most outstanding goalie in hockey history. Speaking of former Avs, we will get another glimpse at Cal Ritchie and Jo Drouin as Islanders tonight!

Time to take care of the Island Boys.

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