DENVER — Often this season, the Islanders have not played well. Almost as often, they just haven’t gotten the breaks. This loss was the latter.
They matched the NHL-leading Avalanche all night but a crucial call went against them and the Islanders ended their five-game road trip with a heartbreaking 5-3 loss on Tuesday night at Ball Arena.
Defenseman Sebastian Aho’s apparent third-period goal was waved off and Andre Burakovsky scored the winner 59 seconds later on a shot from the right circle at 12:48.
The Islanders (20-22-8), who received 38 saves from Ilya Sorokin in his 10th start in 11 games, went 2-2-1 on the trip and are 17 points out of a playoff spot. Darcy Kuemper stopped 28 shots for the Avalanche (40-10-4), who are 23-3-2 at home and have won four straight.
Puck-moving defenseman Devon Toews had a goal and two secondary assists and was named the game’s first star for the Avalanche in his first game against his former team since Islanders president and general manager Lou Lamoriello traded him for two second-round picks on Oct. 12, 2020, because of salary-cap considerations.
The Islanders played without top-line center Mathew Barzal (lower body) and defenseman Zdeno Chara (upper body) for the second straight game. Coach Barry Trotz said both were day to day but neither were likely to play against the Canucks on Thursday night at UBS Arena.
The Avalanche tied the game at 3 as Gabriel Landeskog banked in a power-play goal off Sorokin as he went behind the crease at 4:43 of the third period. Defenseman Scott Mayfield failed to clear the puck from the defensive zone just before Landeskog’s goal but the bigger issue was Ross Johnston’s holding penalty on Nazem Kadri along the left wall as the burly left wing stopped skating.
The Islanders thought they had retaken the lead at 11:49 as Aho skated in from the left and squirted the puck past Kuemper’s short side. It was ruled a goal on the ice but waved off after a video review.
Toews completed a precision passing sequence by lifting the puck from the slot to give the Avalanche a 2-1 lead at 3:54 of the second period. It was his career-high 10th goal.
But the Islanders responded 45 seconds later with Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s slap shot from below the right circle tying the game at 2. Kyle Palmieri, with his fifth goal in eight games, put the Islanders ahead, 3-2, at 12:23 of the second period.
The Avalanche took a quick, 1-0 lead as Nathan MacKinnon rifled a shot past Sorokin through a screen at 3:23 of the first period.
But the Islanders settled their game after early issues breaking the puck out of their zone, one of Toews’ talents.
Defenseman Ryan Pulock tied it at 1 with a less-than-blistering shot from the left point through traffic at 10:03 of the first period, just six seconds after the Islanders’ first power play expired.
Defenseman Erik Johnson added an empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining in regulation.
