Defenseman Cale Makar had three points of significance Monday night as his Colorado Avalanche held back the New York Islanders, 5-4, at UBS Arena.

Makar opened the scoring with his first goal since Jan. 28 against the Chicago Blackhawks, a 14-game drought. Despite taking more than a month off from goal-scoring, he still leads NHL defensemen.

His second goal, which made it 4-1 Colorado in the third period, made him the fourth defenseman in franchise history to hit 20 in a season.

In between, he tied a franchise mark. His helper on Nathan MacKinnon’s goal pushed his assist streak to 12 games, tying Joe Sakic’s franchise record from 1991-92.

MacKinnon matched Makar with a three-point night (1 goal, 2 assists).

“I thought those guys led the way, for sure,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

“Just real good awareness. If they had a good shooting lane, they took it. They were dangerous in the interior of the ice. And if they didn’t like it, they were dishing it off to someone else who was putting themselves into scoring position.”

During a frantic sequence that never seemed to end, Gabriel Landeskog tapped the puck back to MacKinnon while Islanders goaltender Semyon Varlamov (44 saves) was forward in the crease. He didn’t get set in time for MacKinnon’s shot that pushed the score to 2-1.

That was the first of four Avalanche goals in a span of 4:21 following a scoreless second period.

Logan O’Connor absorbed a hit to advance the puck, Alex Newhook sent a no-look pass backward and J.T. Compher scored while twisting to the ice.

Makar’s second of the game came after a shot was blocked in front of Varlamov. Andre Burakovsky poked the puck to MacKinnon, who set up Makar as he streaked to the net.

With the Avalanche leading 4-1, Colorado defenseman Devon Toews scored on his former team for the second time in less than a week. He’s found the net in three of his past four games.

“I loved our game to the drop of the puck until the 5-1 lead,” Bednar said. “It’s that simple.

“It looked like our guys just kind of let off the gas there for a little bit.”

Anders Lee deposited his second goal of the game and assisted on another as the Islanders got back within one with 27 seconds left in regulation.

Pavel Francouz made 32 saves for Colorado. The Avalanche were coming off consecutive losses, with one coming in overtime. They hadn’t dropped three in a row since the second, third and fourth games of the season, respectively, and didn’t let it get that far again Monday.

Burakovsky left the game and Bednar said he was injured by the shot. X-rays were negative and the forward is day-to-day.

Calgary Flames sink Colorado Avalanche quickly in OT in battle of Western Conference heavyweights

Worst downs first as Arizona Coyotes edge visiting Colorado Avalanche

Plank, then play for Cheyenne Mountain ahead of 4A hockey championship game