By ,
Published January 08, 2015
Uniondale, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Duchene potted a pair of goals in the second period and the Colorado Avalanche held off the New York Islanders, 5-2, on Saturday at Nassau Coliseum.
After Nathan MacKinnon gave Colorado a 1-0 lead in the first, Duchene scored his 100th career goal 7:49 into the second before netting the eventual game- winner just under three minutes later.
The Islanders answered with a pair of goals during a 5-on-3 in the middle stages of the third, but Semyon Varlamov made just enough saves down the stretch to send the Avs into the Olympic break on a high note.
Gabriel Landeskog added an empty-netter and assisted on MacKinnon's marker, while Varlamov made 30 saves for Colorado, which snapped a two-game slide to finish 2-2-0 on a four-game road trip.
John Tavares and Lubomir Visnovsky each scored for New York, while Evgeni Nabokov allowed three goals on 25 shots for the Islanders, who have lost two straight and seven of their last eight games.
"Hopefully we can use this time to get away," Tavares said of heading into the Olympic break. "Get some rest and come back with a little bit of fresh mindsets and finish the year strong."
Landeskog helped open the scoring just over 13 minutes in, as he shrugged off a defender in the right corner and cut in on net.
Nabokov blocked the initial shot, but Landeskog was pushed into the New York netminder and the rebound trickled to the low right side, where MacKinnon recovered it before ripping the disc into the empty net at 13:04.
Duchene made it 2-0 under eight minutes into the second when he followed his own shot and pounded the puck through the pads of Nabokov after leading a Colorado counterattack.
Just under three minutes later, Duchene roofed a wrister from a tough angle on the low right side to make it 3-0 at 10:33.
"The second shot was a perfect shot," Colorado head coach Patrick Roy said of Duchene's second goal. "Right under the bar, it was a beauty."
Colorado nearly gave the lead away midway through the third, as Andre Benoit and Maxime Talbot each went off for minor penalties at 10:17.
Tavares buried a one-timer from the low right side a minute into the two-man advantage before Visnovsky lit the lamp with a one-timer from atop the right circle to make it 3-2 at 12:14.
However, Varlamov held the Isles off the board from there, and Landeskog scored on the empty net at 19:13 to make it 4-2.
Paul Stastny was awarded an empty-net goal at 19:58 after Thomas Vanek threw his stick with an empty net behind him.
Game Notes
Colorado had lost six straight on Long Island, with its last win coming on Dec. 8, 1998 ... The Islanders were 0-for-33 on the power play prior to Tavares' goal ... Landeskog extended his point streak to nine games ... Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie recorded three assists ... After the game Visnovsky announced he will not compete with Team Slovakia in Sochi after he was not cleared by the team doctors following an evaluation.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/duchene-scores-twice-to-lift-avs-past-islanders