DENVER — The Islanders have made it a habit to hang out in almost every game this season.
But even they can only withstand so much pressure before the dam bursts.
The Avalanche imposed their will on the Islanders through overtime losing 5-4, but the Islanders were very fortunate to get the points, with Nathan MacKinnon scoring the game-winning goal on a 4-3 lead.
Still, it was the visiting team's third loss in four games, and the flow of the game clearly showed the difference between the Isles and a team considered one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup.
It says something about the Isles that they were able to keep it close despite being trailing so badly.
But any glimmer of hope that comes from that is more than offset by the pair of leads handed to the Isles.
From the jump, the Islanders spent much of the game scrambling in the defensive zone, didn't seem to have an answer to the Avalanche's speed, and struggled to hold onto the puck for long periods of time.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov also left the game with an apparent injury at 14:52, forcing Ilya Sorokin to come in relief.
In the second period, Roberto Bortuzzo similarly acted without putting his weight on his right foot after taking a heavy blow from Samuel Girard along the left wall.
Despite that, the Islanders entered the third period with a 4-3 lead after Alexander Romanov's one-timer deflected off Jack Johnson's skate, and entered the second period 10:18 into the second period. .
But it's never realistic that that lead would hold, especially after Mike Riley received an interference penalty at 10:47 of the third, as the Islanders eased pressure on the offensive zone so much. There wasn't.
Valeri Nichushkin tied the score for Colorado before the end of the power play, knocking the puck in after Cale Makar's shot hit Nathan MacKinnon's post for his second goal of the night.
Nichushkin came close to completing a hat trick before regulation expired, but his shot that found the back of the net with 20 seconds left was ruled a no-goal, giving the Islanders one point.
But the two-point win turned into a dream as MacKinnon scored a one-timer in the right circle after Scott Mayfield's penalty at the end of regulation.
The Avalanche doubled the Islanders' shots in the first period, but trailed 2-1 to the visitors at intermission.
It was Pierre Envall's goal off a rush 5 minutes, 39 seconds into the game. It was a quick reaction after Engvall suffered a healthy injury Sunday against Pittsburgh. Then Brock Nelson ignited the power play by sliding through two defenders. The puck went through Georgiev's five holes.
Devon Toews responded quickly to Abs after Engvall's goal, beating Varlamov at the 6:11 mark, but otherwise both netminders battled immense pressure throughout the entire 20 minutes.
The Islanders continued to capitalize on their rushing opportunities, with Simon Holmstrom scoring his second goal just 1:09 into the game, extending their lead to 3-1.
However, that was quickly canceled out by two goals from Val Nichushkin and Jonathan Drouin.
Thirty-seven games into the season, it's getting a little futile to wonder if the Islanders are a good team in a bad outfit, or vice versa.
The reality now is that they are in a close playoff game and need to keep collecting points.
And the reality is, at the very least, it's going to be harder than it needs to be to play like Tuesday.
Maybe the Isles don't have to worry about that reality all that often — maybe coming out of Ball Arena with a point is proof of that, after all.
But in a situation like Tuesday's, it won't be easy to maintain this.
