Both the Avalanche and Rangers played a tight-checking game but New York ended up with two points and Colorado walked away with one. The Colorado Avalanche earned a point with a 3-2 overtime loss to the New York Rangers in a tight, playoff-type game. Casey Mittelstadt scored the first goal of the game nearly 40 minutes into it. Less than three minutes into the third period, Josh Manson tried to clear the puck behind the net — but Kaapo Kakko grabbed the loose puck and flipped it off Alexandar Georgiev's back and into the back of the net. The Rangers' second goal from Chris Kreider on the power play was challenged by the Avs to be a hand pass from Vincent Trochek. It was unsuccessful which cost them a penalty and the goal stood. Devon Toews blasted a shot down the lane which ended up in the back of the net after Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin made the initial save. It appeared that Shesterkin tried to grab the puck the same time Ryan Lindgren and Mikko Rantanen were fighting for it and Lindgren's stick pushed it behind Shesterkin. Nathan MacKinnon had possession before the puck got to Toews but the NHL called it an unassisted goal — thus ending his home point scoring streak at 35 games. His overall streak also ended at 19. Neither team found the back of the net in the extra time which led to a shootout. Mittelstadt and Rantanen were denied by Shesterkin, while Artemi Panarin and Trochek beat Georgiev to win the game. “We’ve gone into a shootout every time we play these guys. They’re a really good hockey team and I think we did a really good job of containing them offensively. With a team like that, that’s a tall order,” Trocheck said after the game. Head coach Jared Bednar said his team needed to be ready to play a full 60 minutes and it did. "I feel like tonight's game was definitely a step in the right direction compared to last game. I think we did a lot of, there was no lack of effort tonight in a lot of different areas," Cale Makar said. "I feel like we didn't, we gave them a lot of minimal scoring opportunities. Obviously the one goal they get — this is what it is, I haven't even seen the replay yet — but for us again, I think there's a lot of positives but I'm sure when we watch the video there's gonna be some tune up things as well." Despite the outcome of the game, the Avs fought hard and made few mistakes. The checking and defensive details were on point for both teams which kept it a low-scoring game. "We checked hard tonight, you know, and like I said that was a tight-checking hockey game. Both goalies were good. I mean, it's hard to produce offense and I thought we did a nice job with that," head coach Jared Bednar said. "The scoring chances — like just looking at them in between periods — first period was even, I dug into some of the chances against in the second. We did a nice job on our checking in the second except for those two instances that we got saves on so and I thought we checked pretty well in the third too, and started getting probably a little bit more dangerous in the third offensively." Georgiev made 23 saves and even though Bednar said he didn't like the first goal against from the Rangers, the 27-year-old netminder battled hard between the pipes. "I feel defensively, they’re such [a] good team and we kind of matched that and played really smart hockey for pretty much the whole game," Georgiev said after the game. "It’s fun, it’s 1-1, scores are not 5-4.” The Avalanche face off against a hot Nashville Predators team on Saturday. The puck drops at 4 p.m. MT. RECENT COLORADO AVALANCHE ARTICLES 'You've got to be ready to play 60 minutes': Avalanche use loss to Canadiens as lesson [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/avalanche-use-loss-to-canadiens-as-lesson] 'That was on us': Avalanche not making excuses for loss to Canadiens [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/that-was-on-us-avalanche-not-making-excuses-for-loss-to-canadiens] Nathan MacKinnon sets franchise record, tops NHL with most home points [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/players/nathan-mackinnon-sets-franchise-record-tops-nhl-with-most-home-points]
