Rangers vs Avalanche: Rangers Embarrassed in Colorado, Lose Second Straight Game
After being smoked by the Penguins 7-2 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, the New York Rangers had a similar effort and were embarrassed this evening by the Colorado Avalanche. The Rangers started the game off by allowing two goals on Cody McLeod’s major penalty, and the Avalanche took full control of the game from that point on. Alexandar Georgiev had 41 saves in this game, and tried his best to keep the Rangers in this game despite being under siege for a majority of the game.
1-0 Avalanche
Nathan MacKinnon (25) - Assists: Tyson Barrie (23) & Gabriel Landeskog (22) - 4:40 1st Period
The Rangers started this game out as bad as they possibly could have, and to make matters worse, Cody McLeod took a five minute major just two minutes after the opening faceoff. Nathan MacKinnon made quick work of the Rangers on the power play and sniped home a shot after receiving a cross-ice pass from Tyson Barrie.
2-0 Avalanche
Mikko Rantanen (18) - Assists: Nathan MacKinnon (37) & Tyson Barrie (24) - 6:53 1st Period
Nearly two minutes after MacKinnon’s goal, the Avalanche added another goal of the same power play courtesy of Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen caught a bit of a lucky bounce on the goal as his attempted pass across to Nathan MacKinnon deflected off of Neal Pionk’s skate and in behind Georgiev. The puck also deflected back in the opposite direction and Georgiev never even stood a chance at reacting.
3-0 Avalanche
Gabriel Landeskog (25) - Assists: Erik Johnson (10) & Mikko Rantanen (46) - 12:34 2nd Period
Following the opening two goals, the Rangers were only able to stop the bleeding for a short time before Colorado came back looking for more. Gabriel Landeskog picked up his 25th goal of the season after the Rangers were outworked in the corner and Erik Johnson’s point shot deflected in off of Landeskog’s skate. There was plenty of traffic in front of the net, so any small deflection would have made it difficult for Georgiev to make the save.
4-0 Avalanche
Alexander Kerfoot (7) - Assists: J.T. Compher (8) & Tyson Jost (8) - 5:18 3rd Period
The Avalanche continued pouring on the pressure in the third period and converted on yet another deflection at the top of the crease to make it 4-0. Alexander Kerfoot came away with the goal after the shot by J.T. Compher appeared to be offsides right before he took the shot. However, the replay showed that the puck never completely exited the zone, therefore resulting in a good goal.
5-0 Avalanche
Mikko Rantanen (19) - Assists: Tyson Barrie (25) & Nathan MacKinnon (38) - 7:53 3rd Period
Mikko Rantanen picked up his second goal of the night and it came off of.....you guessed it, another deflection right in front of Alexandar Georgiev. Tyson Barrie picked up the primary assist after blasting a point shot on the ice, which Rantanen deflected back into the air and just under the crossbar.
5-1 Avalanche
Ryan Strome (5) - Unassisted - 9:21 3rd Period
After going down 5-0, the Rangers finally broke Philipp Grubauer’s shutout midway through the third period thanks to Ryan Strome’s fifth goal of the season. Erik Johnson’s attempted pass wound up deflecting back to center ice, and Strome chased down the puck to go in on a breakaway. Strome made a clean forehand to backhand move and ripped the puck under Grubauer to make it a 5-1 game.
6-1 Avalanche
Ryan Graves (1) - Unassisted - 13:28 3rd Period
The Avalanche would add one final insurance marker later in the third period as ex-Ranger Ryan Graves picked up his first career NHL goal. Mats Zuccarello wound up putting the puck right after Graves’ stick after fumbling a clearing attempt, and Graves slammed the puck back into the net to give the Avalanche a 6-1 lead.
After yet another demoralizing defeat, the New York Rangers will have Saturday off to regroup before returning to action on Sunday afternoon against the Arizona Coyotes.
