Cal Clutterbuck broke a tie 1:52 into the third period and the New York Islanders beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 on Monday night.
Kyle Okposo, Mikhail Grabovski, Casey Cizikas and Ryan Strome also scored and the Islanders won for the third time in four games. Thomas Greiss stopped 25 shots.
Jarome Iginla, Nick Holden and former Islander Blake Comeau each scored for Colorado, but the Avalanche fell for the fifth time in their last seven games.
Off a faceoff win, Clutterbuck redirected Thomas Hickey's point shot past goalie Semyon Varlamov's glove. The goal was Clutterbuck's sixth of the season and the first of two third-period goals from the Isles' fourth line.
With Varlamov on the bench, Holden cut the Islanders' lead to 4-3 with 3:34 left, but Strome scored an empty-net goal with 47.9 seconds left.
The Avalanche nearly scored off the opening faceoff, but Greiss robbed Matt Duchene with a left-pad save.
Colorado took the lead 10:20 in. After Greiss stopped Comeau's original shot, the winger circled the net and flipped the rebound over Greiss. The goalie unwittingly knocked it in with the top of his stick.
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The Avalanche limited the Islanders to seven first-period shots and very nearly carried a one-goal advantage into the first intermission. But Cody McLeod and Gabriel Landeskog each took penalties in the final minute, and Okposo buried a snap shot with 1.4 seconds left.
Grabovski gave the Islanders their first lead at 6:31 of the second. But just 41 seconds later, Iginla's seeing-eye wrist shot confounded Greiss and tied the game 2-2.
The goal was Iginla's 597th of his career, leaving him four shy of Jari Kurri for 18th place on the career list.
The Islanders peppered the Avalanche cage, aiming to break the tie late in the second period, but Varlamov was outstanding. The Avs goalie has struggled at points this season but stopped 13 of 14 in the frame as the Islanders recorded seven of the period's final eight shots after Iginla's goal.
NOTES: Iginla's goal was his eighth this season but only his second in Colorado's last 12 games. ... Strome also had the primary assist on Grabovski's goal and has four points in three games since being recalled from Bridgeport of the AHL. ... Islanders forward Josh Bailey played in his 500th NHL game. ... The Islanders will host the Rangers on Wednesday night in the rivalry's first-ever matchup in Brooklyn.
