NEW YORK — It was less a chess match between New York Rangers coach Mike Sullivan and Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar on Saturday, and more a head-on collision.
With the benefit of last change on home ice at Madison Square Garden, Sullivan was determined to use the same five skaters — forwards J.T. Miller, Vincent Trocheck and Conor Sheary, along with the defensive pair of Vladislav Gavrikov and Braden Schneider — against Colorado’s rocket-fueled top line of Artturi Lehkonen, Martin Nečas and Hart Trophy front-runner Nathan MacKinnon. Bednar recognized what was happening and essentially said, “Bring it.”
“That’s a tough matchup to play against,” the Avs’ bench boss said. “You’ve got a bunch of experienced veteran guys who can play 200 feet. Again, I didn’t think (MacKinnon’s line) needed to dominate the whole game like sometimes they do. They were making enough plays off the rush and getting some dangerous chances with Nate and Marty. I don’t want to disrupt our bench chasing away from it. You have to have someone else to play against that line anyway, and Nate and those guys were doing a good job. I just thought I’d just kind of leave it as is and let them battle through it.”
Of the 17:13 time on ice that MacKinnon logged at five-on-five, roughly 15 minutes came against Miller and Trocheck. (Sheary received 12:07 due to Will Cuylle spelling him for a couple of shifts.) It was over 16 minutes for the pair of Gavrikov and Schneider, with the latter filling in admirably since No. 1 defenseman Adam Fox went down last Saturday with a left-shoulder injury.
The NHL-leading Avalanche (20-2-6) and their world-class talent predictably won out, with MacKinnon scoring twice, including the deciding goal in a 3-2 overtime victory. But the Rangers (15-12-3) gave them everything they could handle.
New York was overmatched in terms of star power, but never looked overwhelmed.
“It was a hell of a hockey game for both teams,” Miller said. “Sometimes you lose and don’t feel good about it, but there are other times where you don’t get the result but feel good and can sleep tonight.”
The Rangers have gone 5-1-1 in their last seven after losing four straight, including a 0-3 road trip through Vegas, Colorado and Utah that raised serious questions about the direction of their season. They’ve struggled to score for the better part of two months, but they also began to lose the defensive commitment that Sullivan has preached since arriving in May.
That’s been remedied in the last couple of weeks, with New York playing the type of aggressive-but-structured game that’s necessary to hang with the NHL’s best. These Rangers don’t have the firepower to go rush-for-rush with the likes of the Avalanche, but if they can be disciplined and opportunistic in front of goalie Igor Shesterkin, who turned in another strong effort with 39 saves, they’re showing they can make things interesting.
“It seems like every time we get some momentum like this and start feeling good about our game, we kind of regress and go back to the other version of the game we don’t like,” Miller said. “So, it’s really important that we reset every game and have the mindset of, ‘We haven’t earned anything yet.’ We have to keep going, and if we want to build a standard and an identity, we have to do it every single day.”
Miller is driving that message home, but it starts with Sullivan’s steady hand. After a decade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he’s come to New York and implemented a style that aims to mitigate deficiencies in skill and speed.
On Saturday, that meant going to the extreme of keeping three of his four lines and two of his three D pairs away from MacKinnon and all-world defenseman Cale Makar. And while there were inevitable breakdowns, most notably when MacKinnon put the Avs on top 2-1 with 4:34 left in regulation, the players tasked with the difficult assignment did a commendable job of containing them.
The Lehkonen-MacKinnon-Nečas line registered 12 shots on goal while allowing only four, but the underlying metrics were much closer. The players the Rangers countered with registered a slight edge in shot attempts (18-17) and high-danger scoring chances (4-3), according to Natural Stat Trick, while limiting them to one goal.
“MacKinnon is a handful, and he’s big and he’s strong and he’s powerful,” Sullivan explained. “J.T. is big and strong and powerful also. And so we just felt it gives us the best chance to try to neutralize one of the more dynamic players in the league. He’s gonna get some looks. He’s too talented, but I thought those guys did a great job against him most of the night.”
“(Miller’s line) had a fair amount of offensive zone time, forcing them to have to defend,” Sullivan added. “And I think that’s a great form of defense.”
Here are 10 more thoughts from an eventful game in which the Rangers battled to come away with a point:
1. The Rangers came out with great effort, with Miller at the forefront. He was noticeable from the drop of the puck, both in terms of tightly checking Colorado’s top players and getting himself into scoring positions. Sullivan called it one of the captain’s “strongest games of the year” and thought the MacKinnon assignment provided extra juice. There may have been extra motivation from seeing Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin in the house, providing Miller with an opportunity to make a statement in front of Team USA’s head decision-maker in advance of the February Olympics.
“Those guys take those challenges,” Sullivan said. “They embrace those. They’re competitive guys. When you give them a challenge like that, they tend to elevate their games. J.T.’s one of those guys.”
2. Miller assisted on Sheary’s equalizer 4:23 into the third period, which started with him winning a defensive-zone puck battle and quickly flipping it ahead to Trocheck to start the rush. It was his 18th point of the season and 10th at five-on-five through 28 games. The Rangers still need more from the 32-year-old, who hasn’t shown nearly enough playmaking ability to this point, but this was a step in the right direction.
“The last couple games, the timing’s been better,” said Miller, who added three shots on goal and five hits while winning 13 of 19 faceoffs across a team-high 23:38 TOI. “The puck’s on my stick a little more. It seemed like before that, I was wasting a lot of energy around the rink, just skating and no timing. Since we’ve been with Troch and Shears or (Jonny Brodzinski), I feel like the timing’s been a little better. We could get the puck below the hash marks, where I like to play the game.”
3. Sullivan has taken heat from segments of the fan base for reinserting Sheary over a younger player such as Brennan Othmann (who, by the way, was sent back to AHL Hartford after the game in favor of Jaroslav Chmelař), but it looked like the right call Saturday. Sheary is better equipped for a matchup role than Othmann, who, all reports indicate, has looked lost defensively, and he showed why in this one. Of the 380 players who have logged at least 300 minutes at five-on-five this season entering play Saturday, his average of 1.05 goals allowed per 60 minutes ranks first, according to Evolving Hockey.
The reality is the Rangers don’t have any great choices to complete their top six, at least not until top prospect Gabe Perreault is deemed ready. That’s a Chris Drury problem. But given the current options, Sullivan is rightly choosing reliability over volatility.
“I think the element that (Sheary) brings to those guys can help them,” Sullivan said. “I think one of his best attributes is just his ability to get it on the forecheck. He’s got a great stick. He’s quick. He knocks a lot of pucks down. He creates a lot of opportunity, turnovers, stalled pucks, things of that nature. He thinks it pretty good, sees it pretty good. That, for me, is one of his biggest attributes. I think Conor’s done a lot of really good things for us this year. The only thing that’s been missing is just the finish, so I’m hoping this goal he gets tonight will give him a boost of confidence.”
4. The last time Sheary had scored an NHL goal was April 11, 2024. When I brought it up, he quipped that he knew exactly how long it had been. It’s been a winding journey, including 59 games in the AHL last season after spending the previous nine years as an NHL regular.
The timing couldn’t have been much better. The 33-year-old outraced two of Colorado’s best skaters in Makar and Nečas, fought off stick checks from Makar, and beat goalie Mackenzie Blackwood on the glove side to tie the score. He clenched his fists in celebration and let out a roar, which was drowned out by the eruption of the Garden crowd.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of good chances throughout this year,” Sheary said. “It’s a relief to get one. Hopefully, I can build off that, but to contribute to the team and help the team gain a point, I think, is really important.”
SHEARY ON THE BREAKAWAY pic.twitter.com/Qmz9WZlHuz
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 6, 2025
5. I also think Sullivan made the right call by elevating Schneider to play with Gavrikov after Fox went down. There was some clamoring for 22-year-old Scott Morrow to get a chance — the grass is always greener on the prospect side — but the rookie doesn’t project as a shutdown defenseman. Thrusting him into a demanding role that he likely won’t play even if he hits his ceiling would likely do more harm than good. It may be asking too much of Schneider as well, but he’s held up fairly well so far.
That’s not to say it’s been perfect. The Avs held an 18-4 shots advantage with the 24-year-old on the ice, but the HD chances were 4-4, and they were limited to only one goal. Schneider also made a couple of strong defensive plays; none more so than when he stopped MacKinnon in his tracks on a rush in the final seconds of regulation and poke-checked the puck away to prevent what would have been a scary shot.
“That line’s probably the best line in the NHL right now, and to be matched up against them, it’s a challenge,” Schneider said. “It’s something that you get excited about and makes you want to do a job.”
6. One decision that Sullivan may have to reconsider is what to do with a power play that’s gone 0 for 9 since Fox went down. The five-forward experiment has had spurts where it looks dangerous, but there have been more instances where it falls flat. That was the case in the third period. The top unit not only failed to register a shot but couldn’t even get set up in the offensive zone.
“I don’t want to overreact because we struggled on one particular power play in the third period,” Sullivan said. “Big picture, I think those guys have done a lot of really good things. The other aspect of it is there’s a little bit of a learning curve there that we have to allow to take place. My experience has been when you deal with players, like (Panarin) for example, who’s an elite player, he’s going to learn through that experience. He’s a fast study because of his talent and hockey IQ… I think that’s always the art of coaching: when to make a change, when to stay with it and allow them to play through certain things. That’s just a feel thing.”
7. After the game, Sullivan sounded undecided about how he would proceed. But if he decides to add a defenseman onto PP1, he left no doubt that Morrow will get the first chance.
“We’ve made a decision to go with five forwards at this point, but we know that he would more than likely — if we were to use a defenseman — he would be the guy because of the instincts that he has,” he said. “We’ll continue to talk about that.”
8. Shortly after the PP faceplant, MacKinnon batted in a Nečas rebound that hit Shesterkin’s glove and went spinning into the air to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. The Avs nearly added another 26 seconds later when referees signaled for a goal from Brock Nelson, but it was overturned when replay review determined the puck never crossed the goal line.
That kept the Rangers alive, with Artemi Panarin whipping a wrister from the left circle that benefitted from a Cuylle screen and knotted the score at 2-2 with 40.9 seconds remaining. It marked New York’s second tying goal in the final three minutes of regulation in the last three games after going without one since March 2, 2024. After a year-and-a-half hiatus, the Rangers seem to have their six-on-five mojo back.
“They’re doing a great job,” Sullivan said. “One of the things I thought earlier in the year was, six-on-five, we’re trying to pass it in the net. It’s hard. When you look at six-on-five goals, just by nature of the amount of bodies on the ice, a lot of it is just funneling pucks to the net, trying to outnumber in and around the net, having traffic at the net. You may get a deflection, you may get a rebound opportunity, or you get one of those sifters from the blue line that the goalie has a hard time finding because of the traffic at the net front.”
LAST MINUTE MAGIC 🪄 pic.twitter.com/zOSosk5Ruk
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) December 6, 2025
9. MacKinnon kept the Rangers from securing a second point by scoring his second goal of the game and league-leading 24th of the season 2:46 into OT. It came at the end of a relatively long shift in which he, Makar and Nečas wore down a disadvantaged trio of Cuylle, Will Borgen and rookie Noah Laba, with MacKinnon lifting a sweet backhand over Shesterkin’s right shoulder. The Athletic recently asked its hockey writers to vote for Hart and Norris Trophies at the quarter-season mark, and I picked MacKinnon and Makar, respectively. I was wowed watching them play Saturday by their ability to make high-end skill plays at speeds few players can match, showing up almost every shift. It was a reminder of what elite players can do to take over games — and how difficult it will be for the Rangers to run with the NHL’s best until they find one or two of their own.
Absolutely NASTYYYYY pic.twitter.com/d0N3t8VX5G
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) December 6, 2025
10. Jonathan Quick was activated from injured reserve Saturday to serve as the Rangers’ backup goalie after missing the previous six games due to a lower-body injury, with Shesterkin starting every game in his absence. Expect Quick to give him a much-needed breather for Sunday’s 7 p.m. game against the Vegas Golden Knights back at the Garden. The 39-year-old hasn’t started since Nov. 22 but posted a 3-3 record, .944 save percentage and 1.66 goals against average before getting hurt.