Jan 6, 2017 - The Avalanche are 5-0 in overtime this season, one of just two teams (New York Rangers) that has not lost
Postgame Notes & Quotes Colorado Avalanche 2, New York Islanders 1 (OT) Friday, Jan. 6, 2017 The Avalanche are 5-0 in overtime this season, one of just two teams (New York Rangers) that has not lost in the extra frame in 2016-17. Colorado is tied for third in the league with five overtime-winning tallies. The Avs are 0-1 in shootouts. Nathan MacKinnon recorded his second career regular-season overtime goal, just two weeks after his first (Dec. 23 at Chicago). With a goal and an assist on the night, MacKinnon notched his ninth multipoint game of the season and his fourth gamewinning goal, both tops on the team. He ranks first amongst all Avalanche skaters with 27 points. Matt Nieto’s penalty shot in the first period was first of the season for the Avalanche and the first career penalty shot for Nieto. The Avalanche is 0-for-1 on penalty shots this season, 24-for-44 in franchise history and 14-for-25 since moving to Denver. It was the first Avalanche penalty shot versus the New York Islanders and second against the Isles in franchise history (Jan. 26, 1984, Michel Goulet). Tyson Barrie registered his team-leading 18th assist with a helper on MacKinnon’s overtime winner. Neito’s four shots on goal in tonight’s game is a season high. Ryan Strome, who recorded the secondary assist on the Islanders’ second-period marker, has now totaled eight points (four goals, four assists) in his last nine outings. Colorado C Nathan MacKinnon On Earning The Result: “Yeah, we played well. I thought we had a little bit of a letdown in the second. They had a good period, but overall we played solid. We knew they were coming off their break, so wanted to be good and we were really good in the first period, so we’re excited about the win.”
On Getting The Win: “Yeah, it was a long time coming, you know. It’s been tough at home, it’s been tough in general, obviously. Wins haven’t been easy to get and obviously we have a lot of work to do still, but it definitely feels good to win heading into this break for sure.” Colorado LW Matt Nieto On Playing His First Game With Colorado: “It’s obviously a good feeling, getting a win heading into a break here. I think all the guys will enjoy the break a little more after that. We’ll come back after and get back to work.”
On His Performance: “Yeah, you know, I thought I brought pretty good energy. I think I got rewarded for it. I knew I’d make a couple mistakes out there, just adjusting to systems and what not. For the most part, a smooth transition and you know it’s definitely something to build off of.”
New York Islanders C John Tavares On The Team’s Effort: “[We] put up a pretty good hockey game after our break. We had chances we just didn’t score them and obviously an unfortunate call in overtime and those are tough to kill. They did a good job up until the goal a fortunate bounce.”
On Their Time Off: “Well, the break is nice to have, I mean it’s going to pay off in the course of the next few weeks. But certainly starting off and being put in this altitude especially isn’t easy. I like the way we battled, and as the game went on I think we started to get better and better. I think everyone started to get their lungs and legs back as we got along. I think the break was obviously good in the upcoming weeks here. I’m sure we will feel a lot better tomorrow.” New York Islanders D Travis Hamonic On Tonight’s Game: “Yeah, honestly I thought we played a pretty good game. They are obviously a hungry group. They were really skilled up front and we tried to skate in their building. Frustrating way to lose at the end, but we certainly had our fair share. That might have been the most active overtime that we have seen this year, and we had an opportunity ourselves.”
On The Goaltenders: “Greissers (Islanders G Thomas Greiss) played really well for us, he is just a big wall in there. He is constantly talking, he’s very vocal. He makes the first and second save all the time. He is an easy guy to play in front of and Calvin (Colorado G Calvin Pickard) played really well for them. I’ve known him for a while obviously being Winnipeg guys helps. I tried to sneak one on him in there earlier, but he played really well and chances were back and forth for both of them.”
