Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winner with 14.7 seconds to go in regulation, lifting the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
The Avalanche’s late, back-breaking goal came as a Rangers power play expired. Defenseman Cale Makar, who scored twice for the visitors in the win, intercepted a Will Borgen pass at the point of the Colorado zone and sparked a 3-on-1 rush.
He fed Lehkonen, who finished a one-timer from in close past Igor Shesterkin, who gets the hard-luck loss. New York’s star goalie made just 16 saves while his team outshot the Avalanche 38-21 and overcame a pair of two-goal deficits.
The result snaps the Rangers’ (24-20-4, 52 points) point streak at 10 games.
“That one stings,” defenseman Adam Fox said. “You think that you’re definitely getting to overtime, at least, and they get one late. We clawed back a couple times in that game. I thought we controlled a good portion of that, too. That one stings, for sure.”
The teams combined for four goals in the game’s first 8:36, which saw the Avalanche take a 2-0 lead, only to give it away just as quickly.
Jack Drury, the nephew of Rangers GM Chris Drury, put the Avalanche in front 5:43 into the game when he redirected a point shot from Keaton Middleton over the glove of Shesterkin.
It was Drury’s first point with the Avalanche after being acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster that also yielded Martin Necas for Mikko Raantanen.
Crisp Colorado passing salvaged a broken entry into the Rangers’ zone, with Necas finding Nathan MacKinnon, who dropped a pass back to an on-rushing Makar. The star Avalanche blue-liner snapped a wrister past Shesterkin to land a quick second jab.
But the Rangers came up with an answer just 44 seconds later when Sam Carrick stuffed a wraparound pass from Matt Rempe into an open net at Mackenzie Blackwood’s right post.
New York equalized 1:26 after Carrick’s goal when Vincent Trocheck converted a 2-on-1 break alongside Alexis Lafreniere, capping off the frenzied start to the afternoon. It was Trocheck’s first goal in six games and a just reward for Shesterkin after he made an athletic double-save just seconds earlier to help spark the odd-man rush.
Makar picked up his second of the day to put the Avalanche back in front with 5:24 left in the first to get a sputtering power play back on track. Their man advantage had been 1-for-26, and they got a chance after Fox was whistled for a hold just 23 seconds prior.
After Necas hit a pair of posts on the power play, the Avalanche found a fourth late in the second period when Juuso Parssinen snuck a perfectly placed one-timer from between the circles just beyond the outstretched left pad of Shesterkin with 3:59 remaining in the second period.
The Rangers pulled one back just 2:04 later when Will Borgen, fresh off a new contract extension, poked home a loose puck off a Reilly Smith one-timer that squeaked behind Blackwood.
Panarin blooped in the tying goal with 4:50 remaining in the game when he got on a rebound off a Trocheck shot that was kicked away by Blackwood, and his deflected shot floated into an open net with the Avalanche netminder out of position.
