New York Islanders at Colorado Avalanche: game preview
NY IslandersIslanders2026-27: 1-2-0 · 2 pts · 2025-26: 43-34-5 · 91 pts · 19that
ColoradoAvalanche2026-27: 2-0-0 · 4 pts · 2025-26: 55-16-11 · 121 pts · 1stThirty points apart last season
NY Islanders finished last season 19th in the league on 91 points. Colorado finished 1st on 121.
Game-day prices arrive with the afternoon snapshot, about 4:30 PM ET on the day of the game.
Meeting number 48
Across 47 completed games, Colorado lead the head-to-head 25-18-4.
Last 5 meetings
See all: Last 5 meetings →The table on each 2025-26 meeting night
League rank after that night's games; a longer bar is a higher place. On 16 Nov 2025, NY Islanders were 15th in the league and Colorado 1st. By 4 Dec 2025 it was 11th and 1st.
Colorado out-attempted NY Islanders 131 to 121
Every attempt from the last meetings, both teams shooting right.
New York Islanders
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado have created the better chances, last 10 games
Shot quality both ways: expected goals weigh every unblocked attempt by its chance of scoring. Finishing above zero means more goals than the chances.
This season: 3 games for NY Islanders, 2 for Colorado. Small sample: early-season xG moves a lot from night to night.
Last 10 games: 10 games for NY Islanders, 10 for Colorado.
2025-26: 82 games for NY Islanders, 82 for Colorado.
Power play and penalty kill, season and series
This season's rates first, then 2025-26 and the last meetings between the two. Power-play chances are counted from the penalty log with coincidental minors cancelled; faceoffs are each club's wins over draws taken.
All bars share one scale · 0–100%SeasonLast meetings
NY Islanders
Small sampleColorado
Small sampleSkaters to watch
Each club's top three forwards and defencemen by points this season, with 2025-26 one tap away.
Who has stopped this matchup
Save percentage in the last meetings by goalie. Starters are confirmed on game day.
Expected starter after their game on 15 Dec: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
Expected starter after their game on 14 Dec: a back-to-back depends on who plays that night.
NY Islanders crease
NYI · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 13 Dec
No appearances against Colorado in the last meetings.
Colorado crease
COL · 2026-27 Starter estimate from 13 Dec
No appearances against NY Islanders in the last meetings.
Scoring rates point to about 6.1 goals
No total is posted yet: it arrives with the game-day prices. Until then, the scoring rates and the recent meetings set the range.
Goals in the last 5 meetings
Bar length is total goals, coloured by the winner.
Scoring rates
NY Islanders3.002.332.842.94
Colorado7.002.503.682.48Goals for and against per game. The estimate averages each team’s scoring with the other’s goals allowed, and leans on 2025-26 until a team has played 20 games.
6 on the injury lists
NY Islanders · injuries
Colorado · injuries
Latest moves
See all: Latest moves →Agreed to terms with LD Logan Stanley on a 1-Year contract worth $1.5M. Placed G Vitek Vanecek on waivers with the intention of sending to Hamilton (AHL)
Waived Fs Tanner Fritz, Matt Luff and Nathan Chaffee. Waived Fs Dylan Foudy and Hudson Kuefler for the purpose of sending to Hamilton (AHL).
Signed F Alex Jefferies to a one-year contract.
Placed LD Keaton Middleton, LD Wyatt Aamodt, RW/LW Fabian Lysell, C Vinnie Hinostroza, LW Adam Beckman and LW Tristen Nielsen on waivers.
Placed D Keaton Middleton, D Wyatt Aamodt, LW Fabian Lysell, C Vinnie Hinostroza, LW Adam Beckman and G Mads Sogaard Nielsen on waivers.
Reassigned Ds Domenick Fensore, Saige Weinstein and Christian Wolanin to Colorado (AHL).
NY Islanders · 2026 draft
See all: NY Islanders · 2026 draft →Colorado · 2026 draft
See all: Colorado · 2026 draft →Wednesday 16 December · the full slate
See all: Wednesday 16 December · the full slate →
Updated after every final