Avs Head Into Olympic Break With 5-2 Win

Matt Duchene scored a pair of goals 2:44 apart in the second period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the New York Islanders 5-2 on Saturday night.

Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Paul Stastny each scored for Colorado. Jean-Sebastien Giguere stopped 30 shots to help the Avalanche snap a two-game skid.

The Islanders scored two goals during a wild sequence in the third period in which the Avalanche committed four penalties over a 3:34 span. Islanders captain John Tavares got his team on the board with 8:43 remaining. Then, 57 seconds later, Lubomir Visnovsky got New York within one. Both goals were scored as part of 5-on-3 advantages.

But the Avalanche regained their composure when the play returned to even strength, and were able to hang on.