Looking to start the unofficial second half of the season strongly, the Colorado Avalanche fall to the New York Rangers. The Avalanche started their East Coast road trip with an overtime loss of 1–2.
First period
The first period started with newcomer Zach Parise, securing his first two shots on goal in his first shift. Tonight, the 39-year-old forward made his debut for the Avalanche, after being added to their roster on January 26th.
After both teams served penalties, Nathan MacKinnon was able to get the Avalanche on the board first. He keeps his point streak alive and is two games away from passing Paul Stastny on the Avalanche leaderboard for the longest point streak in a season.
Nathan MacKinnon's 85th point of the season is the most by an Avalanche/Nordiques player through their first 50 games played in a campaign. 🤯#NHLStats: https://t.co/5KwVUVpmOa pic.twitter.com/StoYxm23Pu
— NHL (@NHL) February 6, 2024
Cale Makar, who has 47 assists on the season and Josh Manson, who has 12 assisted MacKinnon on his goal. Makar himself is two points away from becoming the No.1 defenseman in franchise history to gain the most points.
Second period
Despite a slow second period, the Avalanche fired 10 shots at goaltender Jonathan Quick. Quick came into the night with 385 career wins, 20 of them being over the Avalanche.
Both goaltenders played a tight game as Alexandar Georgiev stopped six shots against his former team in the second.
Third period
The third period also started slowly, and the puck lasted 8:20 minutes on the ice without stoppage. Shortly after the first stoppage of the frame, Artemi Panarin let one go by Georgiev to tie the game.
K’Andre Miller and Braden Schneider assisted Panarin in acquiring his 31st goal of the season.
The Avalanche finished the third frame in favor with their 30 shots on goal compared to the Rangers’ 25.
Overtime
The Avalanche entered overtime with a 4–3 record on the season. 1:53 into what would be the last frame of the night, Alexis Lafrenière, picked up his 13th goal of the season. Mika Zibanejad, who picked up his 32nd assist of the season, assisted him.
ABSOLUTELY CLUTCH. pic.twitter.com/10bGPd5VVj
— x – New York Rangers (@NYRangers) February 6, 2024
Colorado concluded the night with one point and Georgiev finished with 27 saves and the third star of the night.
Takeaways
The Avalanche won’t sit with this loss for long as they look to play the New Jersey Devils tomorrow. The team will be joined on the road by Sam Malinski and Justus Annunen, who were recalled from the Colorado Eagles.