The resolve the Rangers showed Saturday afternoon is what the team has been working toward this season, but they only had one point to show for it.
A stingy and gutsy 60-minute effort allowed the Blueshirts to push the NHL-leading Avalanche to overtime and secure at least a point before Nathan MacKinnon scored 2:46 into the extra period to hand the home team a 3-2 loss at Madison Square Garden.
With 40.9 seconds left in regulation and an extra skater on, Artemi Panarin blasted his 10th goal of the season from the top of the zone to secure at least one point.
The Rangers got off to a strong start against the Avalanche, whose 17-game point streak was ruined by a 6-3 loss to the Islanders on Thursday.
Doubling the visitors’ shots on goal halfway through, the Rangers also rang two pucks off the post during their first power play.
Colorado tilted the ice in the second half to close the shots gap, but neither team found the back of the net through the opening 20 minutes.
Play was in the Avs’ control for a majority of the second period, in which Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made 12 saves on the way to 38 on the day.
It led to Parker Kelly tipping in a Sam Malinski shot for the 1-0 lead at the 7:06 mark of the middle frame. Shesterkin had otherwise stood tall in the face of a flurry of Colorado shots.
Despite a somewhat lopsided second period, the Rangers stayed within striking distance.
Conor Sheary then scored his first goal as a Ranger to even the score at one-all just under 4:30 into the final frame. Splitting two Avalanche players thanks to a feed from Vincent Trocheck, Sheary skated in with conviction before snapping it past Colorado netminder Mackenzie Blackwood.
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