3 Rangers takeaways after lost opportunity, bitter overtime defeat to Avalanche
As the clock was ticking down in Denver last night, we should’ve known that the New York Rangers and Colorado Avalanche would end up in overtime, even though the visitors looked good holding on to a one-goal lead.
But for the fifth straight meeting between the Rangers and Avalanche, this game was also decided after regulation. The Rangers allowed their hosts to tie it up at 18:47 of the third period after the Avalanche pulled goalie Mackenzie Blackwood for an extra attacker.
And then what seemed destined to be a feel-good win ended in a bitter 3-2 loss, when the Rangers gave up a Devon Toews goal with 36.1 seconds remaining in OT.
Though they failed to win a third consecutive game for the first time since Nov. 14-19, the Rangers did grab a point for the fifth straight game (3-0-2), and they’re 4-1-2 since the New Year. And they did play a really good game and put themselves in position to win it in regulation and again in overtime but just couldn’t seal the deal.
So, as they travel to Utah for the finale of a three-game road trip Friday, the Rangers can likely focus on many more positives than negatives — though the one main negative is an important one, they failed to secure two points in an uphill climb for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Rangers (20-20-3) are 14th in the conference, though just one point behind three teams, two of which lost in regulation Tuesday, meaning the Rangers did pick up some ground. But the Rangers did drop five points behind the Columbus Blue Jackets for the second wild card in the East and six points behind the Boston Bruins for the top wild card. Each of those teams won Tuesday.
“The frustrating thing is not to get the second point in the column which we need,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said postgame. “That’s why everybody’s just frustrated and irritated with the night”
Related: Rangers ‘can’t win Stanley Cup with Mika Zibanejad as 1C’: NHL insider
3 takeaways from Rangers 3-2 overtime loss to Avalanche
Here are three takeaways from the loss Tuesday.
1. Tip your hat
Listen, the Rangers absolutely had to find a way to lock this one down and skate out of the Mile High City with two points. But you have to tip your hat to Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, too.
The stat line will tell you Blackwood finished with 27 saves. What it won’t tell you is that Blackwood was the best player on the ice for either team. By a lot. He stopped an inordinate amount of Grade A scoring chances for the Rangers, including a clean Adam Edstrom breakaway just 2:38 into the game, another by Alexis Lafreniere at 2:56 of the second and one by Mika Zibanejad 3:08 into overtime, or roughly two minutes and change before Toews blasted a one-timer past Igor Shesterkin for the game-winner.
Blackwood made seven saves during a Rangers power play late in the second period, and three more during a 4-on-3 power play in overtime. The only goals he allowed were a Sam Carrick short-handed breakaway in the first period and Adam Edstrom’s 2-on-1 rush up ice in the second.
Not making excuses for the Rangers, but Blackwood was sensational Tuesday night.
2. Going fo(u)rth
While the Rangers stars and top scorers were frustrated time and again by Blackwood, New York’s two goals were scored by members of the fourth line. And that’s becoming a trend recently. Carrick has two goals in his past three games and three in the past six. Edstrom scored in consecutive games for the first time in his NHL career. Each has four goals on the season.
Though Carrick’s goal came during a penalty kill, the fourth line was again very effective, and that included Matt Rempe, even though the towering 22 -year-old logged just 6:50 TOI. Rempe had a couple hits, a shot on goal and helped cause a turnover that led to Carrick and Edstrom breaking out for a 2-on-1 goal the other way.
As for Carrick and the penalty kill, they came up big against the Avalanche big guns Tuesday. The Rangers were 3-for-3 on the PK and allowed only one shot in six minutes while down a man. That included a big kill when Reilly Smith was sent off for hooking at 13:03 of the third period, when the Rangers had a 2-1 lead.
3. Little help from my friends
Shesterkin had his moments for the Rangers in goal, too. He made a few terrific glove saves in the game, including an eye-popping stop on a booming Nathan MacKinnon howitzer from left wing at 6:08 of the first period, when the Rangers were already in a 1-0 hole. His excellent save on a Mikko Rantanen deflection 2:57 into overtime appeared to be a game-saver as well.
But Shesterkin faced only 26 shots on goal because he got quite a bit of help from his teammates. The Rangers blocked 22 shots, including five by Ryan Lindgren and three by center Vincent Trocheck. And on three separate occasions, Shesterkin was bailed out at or near his goal line by a defenseman keeping the puck out of the net. Will Borgen did so in the opening minute of the game; and then Lindgren and K’Andre Miller did so in the second period.
This type of effort was not evident during New York’s miserable 4-15-0 stretch in November and December. It bodes well for their playoff push.
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