(Sports Network) - The Colorado Avalanche will shoot for a third straight victory tonight when they visit the New York Islanders for a clash at Nassau Coliseum.
The Avalanche are 2-1-0 so far on a five-game road trip that will end Monday night against the New York Rangers and Colorado posted a close regulation win Friday evening in New Jersey. The club's only loss of the season came in Philadelphia to open this current swing.
Chris Stewart and T.J. Galiardi each scored a goal and added an assist in Colorado's 3-2 win over New Jersey on Friday. Paul Stastny notched two assists, while defenseman John-Michael Liles recorded an assist in his fourth straight game to begin the season.
"It's fair to say that over 60 minutes, you want to have a more complete game than that," Avs head coach Joe Sacco said. "But it's still a win, it's a big two points for us on the road, and we're not going to give it back."
Craig Anderson was strong between the pipes, stopping 41 shots in the win. Anderson has turned aside 110 of 118 shots this season for a stellar .932 save percentage.
Cody McLeod also scored for Colorado before being ejected from the game early in the first period. McLeod was called for a boarding major and a game misconduct.
The Islanders, meanwhile, will try to avoid their third straight loss tonight after dropping an overtime decision Friday in Pittsburgh. Alex Goligoski scored 1:51 into the extra session to give Pittsburgh its first win in their new building with the 3-2 victory at CONSOL Energy Center.
Josh Bailey and Radek Martinek each lit the lamp for the Islanders, who have dropped their past two, but have gotten at least a point in three of their four games (1-1-2) this season.
Rick DiPietro made 26 stops in the loss and could give way to backup goaltender Dwayne Roloson tonight.
Isles centerman John Tavares sat out his third straight game Friday with a concussion and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 draft is questionable for tonight's contest.
Meanwhile, New York defenseman James Wisniewski has completed a two-game suspension and is eligible to return tonight. Wisniewski received the suspension for making an inappropriate gesture to Rangers forward Sean Avery on Monday.
The Islanders notched a win in Colorado in the only meeting between the clubs last year. New York has taken two straight and is 5-0-1 with a tie in the last seven encounters in this series. The Avs have also been handed losses in their last five trips to Long Island.