Denver— On Tuesday night, Nathan MacKinnon netted a power-play goal just 32 seconds into overtime, propelling the Colorado Avalanche(24-11-3) to a 5-4 victory over the New York Islanders(17-10-10) as they rallied to to beat them.

In the final moments of regulation, Scott Mayfield incurred a holding minor, giving Colorado a 4-on-3 power play at the start of overtime. MacKinnon clinched the victory with a slapshot, receiving a pass from Cale Makar for his 20th goal of the season.

MacKinnon, also had two assists, further extending his home point streak to 20 games, setting a franchise record.

Valeri Nichushkin scored twice, Jonathan Drouin notched a goal and an assist, while Devon Toews found the net against his former team. Makar contributed three assists, and Alexandar Georgiev made 18 saves for Colorado.

“Our big guys were all good,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I think they had three points each, Val had two goals.”

Brock Nelson contributed a goal and an assist, while Ilya Sorokin made 23 saves after replacing Semyon Varlamov for the short-handed Islanders. New York, facing challenges, saw additional goals from Pierre Engvall, Alexander Romanov, and Simon Holmstrom. The team has struggled, losing eight of its last nine games in Denver.

“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Engvall said. “Obviously we’re not happy with the way the game ended but we did a lot of good things.”

The Islanders saw some key injuries during this game. Varlamov exited the game at 14:52, leaving the Islanders down two players. His departure occurred after making his 11th save of the night, with Sorokin stepping in as his replacement.

Also, Robert Bortuzzo, the defenseman, left the game in the second period after being checked into the boards by Samuel Girard. Although he managed to get up, he couldn’t put weight on his right leg and needed assistance to leave the ice and head to the locker room. There were no updates on either player post-game.

Engvall and Nelson both found the net in the first period, helping New York jump out to a 2-1 lead. The Islanders extended their lead to two goals with Holmstrom’s goal a mere 1:09 into the second period.

Nichushkin scored his first goal of the night, and Drouin’s goal, just 4 minutes and 10 seconds apart, leveled the score early in the second period. However, Romanov’s shot from the point, which deflected off Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson’s skate, gave the Islanders a 4-3 lead at 10:18 of the second period.

“He’s a beast and it’s fun just to watch him play, he’s so big and powerful,” MacKinnon said of Nichushkin, who scored his 19th goal of the season.

Up next the Isles are in the desert Thursday to play the Arizona Coyotes.

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By Vincent Quezada

Photo Credit: AP/ David Zalubowski