Colorado @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 9, 2019 ) Colorado 3, NY Islanders 4

The Colorado Avalanche have made themselves at home on the road, with their 14 away wins serving as the most among Western Conference teams. Boasting a sizzling 7-1-1 record in their last nine road tilts, the Avalanche aim to continue their splendid play outside of Denver on Monday when they visit the New York Islanders in Uniondale, N.Y.

Mikko Rantanen kept Colorado clicking on the road Saturday after his second career hat trick in a 5-2 win over New Jersey boosted his point total to 19 (10 goals, nine assists) in 17 games since returning from a significant injury. "I thought the (captain Gabriel Landeskog/Nathan MacKinnon) line was just average in the first, so we flipped the lines and put Rantanen with them and they scored a couple goals in that (second) period right away," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar told reporters. "I thought Mikko was a driving force to our offense (on Saturday) for sure." While Colorado resides five points out of first place in the Central Division, New York has lost two in a row and five of seven (2-4-1) to fall into third in the Metropolitan. A sputtering offense has contributed to the troubles of the Islanders, who suffered a 3-0 setback to Toronto on Saturday to mark the fourth time in six games that they have scored two goals or fewer.

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: Altitude, MSG Plus, Sportsnet

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (25-13-4): Rantanen hardly is the only member of the team finding his offense, as MacKinnon has joined him with a three-game point streak and recorded 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) in his past 14 contests overall. Defenseman Samuel Girard has notched eight assists during his career high-tying three-game point streak. Fellow blue-liner Cale Makar has four points in five games since returning from an upper-body injury.

ABOUT THE ISLANDERS (25-12-3): Semyon Varlamov could be in line to face his former team, with which he spent the past eight seasons before losing the crease in favor of Philipp Grubauer during the team's playoff run. The 31-year-old, who signed a four-year contract in the summer to effectively replace the departing Robin Lehner (Chicago), posted a 14-3-3 record to begin his time in New York before taking two hard-luck losses despite turning aside 49 of 53 shots. Defenseman Ryan Pulock, who has five points in his last nine games, capped a two-goal performance by scoring in overtime of a 4-3 win over Colorado on Feb. 9.

OVERTIME

1. New York is 0-3-1 in its last four games at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

2. Colorado sports an 11-2-2 record against Eastern Conference representatives this season.

3. Islanders D Johnny Boychuk, who began his career with the Avalanche, has scored three goals - including two game-winning tallies - against his former team.

PREDICTION: Avalanche 4, Islanders 2