The New York Rangers scored a sixth-attacker goal to force overtime for the second straight home game Saturday at Madison Square Garden. But the Colorado Avalanche, the best team in the NHL, got a goal from League scoring leader Nathan MacKinnon at 2:46 of OT to edge the Rangers 3-2.
MacKinnon broke a 1-1 tie when he scored with 4:34 remaining in the third period. But with Igor Shesterkin on the bench for an extra attacker, Artemi Panarin forced overtime when he beat Mackenzie Blackwood through traffic from above the left circle with 40.9 seconds left.
However, MacKinnon dangled his way past defenseman Will Borgen during the 3-on-3 overtime and beat Shesterkin with a high backhander for the win, leaving the Rangers disappointed but not heartbroken after another solid effort.
“I thought we played a good game,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We played hard and competed all night against one of the best teams in the League.”
It was a disappointing ending for the Rangers, who went toe-to-toe with the team that leads the League with 46 points all afternoon. Shesterkin made 39 saves to keep the Rangers in position to earn a point, and Conor Sheary scored his first goal with the Rangers.
The Rangers (15-12-3) lost for the first time in three games. But they’re 5-1-1 in their past seven entering the second half of a back-to-back against the Vegas Golden Knights at The Garden on Sunday.
The Rangers had the better of the play for most of the scoreless first period, holding the League’s highest-scoring team without a shot on goal for more than 10 minutes in one stretch. New York got the only power play of the period when Cale Makar went off for interference at 7:26 and beat Blackwood twice in a 17-second span – but Panarin drilled the left post on a one-timer from the left circle and Will Cuylle did the same from close in.
Shesterkin made his best save of the period and drew chants of “Igor” from the Garden crowd with 1:34 left by denying Martin Necas after he got behind the defense and came in alone.
The Avalanche stepped things up in the second period and took a 1-0 lead at 7:06. Sam Malinski took a shot from the right point that Parker Kelly, while on his knees, deflected just enough to beat Shesterkin, who never saw the puck through a maze of bodies.
But after Colorado dominated the first 12 minutes of the period, the Rangers found their game again. They pressed the play and controlled the tempo but still couldn’t beat Blackwood, who made his best stop in the final minute on a snap shot through traffic by Panarin from the high slot.
Sheary got the Rangers even at 4:23 of the third period with his first NHL goal since April 11, 2024, with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 33-year-old forward took a pass from Vincent Trocheck near the red line, raced into the Colorado zone and saw that Necas was the only Colorado player back. Sheary drove into the left circle and shot against the grain, beating Blackwood past the catching glove.
MacKinnon batted an airborne rebound into the net to put Colorado ahead, then got the game-winner after Panarin forced overtime – giving him four goals (and two game-winners) in two games against the Rangers this season.
“It was a hell of a hockey game I think for both teams,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said. “There’s a lot of things we can look for and build on going into tomorrow.”
Key takeaways after Rangers lose 3-2 to Avalanche in OT
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Shesterkin steals a point
No. 31 had to settle for being the game’s No. 2 star after being No. 1 on Thursday in the 4-2 win at the Ottawa Senators. But make no mistake – he was the Rangers best player, as he’s been for most of the season.
Shesterkin did his best work in the third period, when the Rangers were outshot 19-8 and allowed seven of the nine high-danger chances at 5-on-5, according to Natural Stat Trick. MacKinnon’s go-ahead goal in the third period came when he swatted a rebound out of the air and into the net; the puck was barely below the crossbar, and Shesterkin had no chance. The game-winner was a great shot by MacKinnon after he slipped through the defense.
Without another Grade A effort from Shesterkin, who made his season-high seventh straight start, the game would never have gotten to overtime and the Rangers wouldn’t gained an important point in the standings.
“He looks so comfortable out there right now,” Hall of Fame goaltender Henrik Lundqvist said on MSG Network’s postgame show. “He’s patient and on his feet all the time.”
Sheary scores at last
The Rangers signed Sheary to a PTO during the summer, and he earned a roster spot with a solid training camp. But he produced just six assists in 26 games and was scratched for three in a row before injuries gave him an entry back into the lineup this week.
Sullivan, who coached Sheary with the Pittsburgh Penguins, moved him into a top-six role for most of the win Thursday and kept him there Saturday as the left wing on a line with Trocheck and Miller. It paid off in the third period.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of good chances, and throughout this year it’s a relief to get one,” Sheary said. “Hopefully I can build off that.”
Right back to work
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The Rangers are playing back-to-back games for the second straight week and the fourth time this season. Shesterkin played both ends last week, when they won 6-2 against the Boston Bruins on Friday before no-showing (except for their goaltender) in a 4-1 home loss to the Lightning on Saturday.
But with Jonathan Quick activated off IR before the game Saturday and Shesterkin having played seven straight games, expect the winningest U.S.-born goaltender in NHL history to be in the crease against Vegas on Sunday.
Quick hasn’t played since Nov. 22, when he sustained a lower-body injury during a 3-2 road loss to the Utah Mammoth. He finished the game after Michael Carcone slid into him late in the third period but hasn’t played since.
The 39-year-old, who was on the Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup-winning team in 2023, is 3-3-0 this season. But he has the lowest goals-against average (1.69) and is tied for the best save percentage (.944) of any NHL goalie who’s played at least six games.
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