DENVER (AP) — The Colorado Avalanche entered the season as a serious Stanley Cup contender. Three games into the campaign, they are winless and searching for answers. Colorado dropped to 0-3 after a 6-2 home loss to the New York Islanders to extend its early-season funk. The Avalanche have allowed 20 goals despite having Cale Makar and reigning league MVP Nathan MacKinnon on the roster.
The win for the New York Islanders gave coach Patrick Roy a win in his first game back in Denver. Roy won two of his four Stanley Cup wins with Colorado and coached the team for three years before stepping down a month before training camp in 2016.
Brock Nelson scored his first two goals of the season 2:49 apart in the second period. Anthony Duclair, Kyle Palmieri, Anders Lee and Mathew Barzal also scored for the Islanders, and Ilya Sorokin stopped 32 shots. Calum Ritchie got his first NHL goal and Casey Mittelstadt also scored for Colorado, which has dopped its first three games Alexandar Georgiev made 32 saves.
They have been through tough stretches before. They began 2021-22 losing three of the first four before going on to win the Stanley Cup, but it’s not a comfort to coach Jared Bednar.
