Cale Makar scores twice, provides late-game heroics as Avs beat Rangers 5-4

3 days ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images


Newly-acquired Jack Drury had a goal and Martin Nečas was a force with two assists. Cale Makar was denied a hat trick and sent to the penalty box in a wild third period, yet he found a way to win the game for the Colorado Avalanche.
Makar sprinted out of the penalty box, intercepted a pass in his own zone, and set up Artturi Lehkonen with 14.7 seconds remaining in the third period for the game-winning goal in a wild 5-4 victory to snap a three-game losing skid for the Avs (29-20-2) against the red-hot New York Rangers (24-21-4) at Madison Square Garden.
Artemi Panarin tied the game with 4:58 remaining in the third period after he capitalized on a rebound after Vincent Trocheck’s initial shot was denied by Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 33 of 37 shots. On the other side of the net was Igor Shesterkin, who saved 16 of 21 attempts. Saturday’s game against the Boston Bruins was the reverse for Colorado as they suffered a 3-1 defeat despite having more shots on goal.
After a slew of games that featured a lack of scoring and opportunities, this one was a scoring fiesta from the opening puck drop with four foals in two minutes and 53 seconds in the opening period.
First Period
Jack Drury, acquired in the Mikko Rantanen trade on Friday, put Colorado on the board first at 5:43 when he redirected a Keaton Middleton wrister from the point. It was also Middleton’s first career NHL point and Jonathan Drouin earned an assist on the play.
Just 43 seconds later, Makar scored his 17th of the season in a beautiful sequence to make it a 2-0 game. It started when Nathan MacKinnon lost his edge coming up the ice and was able to get a pass off to Martin Nečas in the process of falling down. Nečas subsequently set up Makar with a perfect drop pass for the sweet wrister.
However, the Rangers refused to go down without a fight and picked up two goals of their own within 86 seconds, courtesy of Sam Carrick (5) and Vincent Trocheck (15).
The power play finally showed up. After going 1-for-26 on the man advantage in their last 10 games, the Avalanche made it for 2-for-27 when Makar sniped one by Shesterkin for his second goal of the game and his 18th of the season. It started behind the net when Braden Schneider had Jonathan Drouin pinned against the boards, but Drouin was able to kick the puck away. It was quickly recovered by Nečas, who put his offensive awareness on display when he reversed the puck from the right side of the net to the left when he found MacKinnon unprotected on the left-side boards. The reigning MVP then fed Makar for a sniper from the point to give their team the lead.
At the end of the first, the Avalanche held a 3-2 lead over the Rangers and a slight edge in shots with a 12-10 tally.
Second Period
After an offensive explosion in the opening frame, the game shifted in the second period to a defensive one, with the Avs controlling play for long stretches. Colorado went on their second power play of the game when Nečas was knocked over by Adam Edström at center ice when he didn’t have possession of the puck. As a result, Edström was boxed for interference. The power play was unsuccessful on this attempt but it wasn’t for a lack of effort as Nečas had two prime opportunities, but both the crossbar and the post sent rejection notifications.
Jusso Parssinen made it a two-goal advantage for Colorado when he one-timed a shot by an outstretched Shesterkin glove side to make it a 4-2 game at 16:01 of the frame. Mittelstadt intercepted an errant pass from Panarin before setting Parssinen up for the shot.
However, the Rangers got one back when Will Borgen punched in a rebound off a Reilly Smith shot with less than two minutes remaining to make it 4-3 Colorado.
Third Period
Colorado nearly extended their lead within the first minute of the third when Sam Girard’s shot was redirected and clanged off the left-side post. Moments later, the Rangers went on the power play after Casey Mittelstadt cross-checked Adam Fox from behind. After the Avs killed off the penalty, Makar found the net, but his hat trick was waved off when it was ruled that Miles Wood was in the crease and prevented Shesterkin from making the save. Wood also had a Rangers defender behind him, but it didn’t matter to the refs.

Takeaways
This was an absolutely wild and breathtaking game. Colorado allowed a lot of odd-man rushes in this game and put Blackwood in a plethora of peculiar positions but managed to escape with the victory. It was also a great game for the newly-acquired Drury and Nečas, who combined to score three points.
Next Game
The Avalanche conclude their three-game road trip against the New York Islanders on Tuesday, January 28th at UBS Arena. Puck drop is at 5:30 p.m. local time. ...

Read Full Article.