The New York Rangers were able to get the Colorado Avalanche without two of their best players, but were unable to get two points against the Avs. The Blueshirts tied it late with a dramatic 6-on-5 goal, but fell in overtime to Colorado by a score of 3-2.
Alex Georgiev stood tall, but the Rangers got goalie’d by Pavel Francouz, who made many difficult saves for the depleted Avs. Make no mistake, Colorado is one of the best teams in the Western Conference, and little mistakes will cost you.
In this game, it wasn’t little mistakes. It was missed opportunities. Both with saves by Francouz and with flat out blown chances. It happens. The Rangers needed five points on this trip and can still get two more in Glendale.
Rangers 1, Avs 0 – Mika again
Mika literally cannot stop scoring pic.twitter.com/dIcehlST6u
— Fitz (@FitzGSN_) March 12, 2020
Honestly there’s nothing you can expect the Avs to do here. Mika Zibanejad was forced to the outside and took the shot from the just inside the top of the circle, closer to the boards than the slot. Yet it was perfect.
Rangers 1, Avs 1 – The ole pick play
Jost snipe it!
(????: @AltitudeTV) #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/crx1xnVEon
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 12, 2020
Tyson Jose cuts to the wide open slot and puts it over Alex Georgiev, but this goal is set up by Gabe Landeskog, setting the pick on Brendan Smith.
Avs 2, Rangers 1 – Another powerplay goal
This is what is called “fronting”. Guys leave the man in front alone to cut off shots. Trust goalie to see and stop initial shot and no rebounds.
Rangers do this on the PK across the board. Rangers do this for Hank and only for Hank at even strength. pic.twitter.com/6pCORBqLu3
— David Shapiro (@BlueSeatBlogs) March 12, 2020
Of course Vlad Namestnikov scores. JT Compher in front with the screen. This is a textbook example of fronting, in which the Rangers leave the man in front along to protect higher up. The presumption is the goalie will still stop the puck. Compher provided the screen and Georgiev couldn’t see it.
Rangers 2, Avs 2 – Drama!
Pass from Panarin, deflection by Buchnevich, and the #NYR tie the game with 13 seconds left to force overtime. pic.twitter.com/ytC5NCuIFu
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) March 12, 2020
With Georgiev pulled, Pavel Buchnevich and Artemi Panarin crafted a give-and-go after Buch received the initial outlet from Adam Fox. Buch drew two to him then gave to Panarin along the boards with room, then cut to the net. Panarin threw an elevated pass in front that Buchnevich somehow got a stick on.
Avs 3, Rangers 2 – OT losses happen
OT WINNER!
(????: @AltitudeTV) #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/VVdVeRv1Zz
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 12, 2020
Cale Makar’s shot, Compher got his stick on it.
Skater Results – Special teams kill
No shot heatmap – for some reason Natural Stat Trick didn’t update after the second period.
From a quality standpoint, this was a good game by the Rangers. They controlled the quality and didn’t allow much. They gave up more from a quantity standpoint, but that’s their style. Staying out of the box would have helped in this one.
It’s not all doom and gloom, the Rangers got a point here and two points on Tuesday night. They needed that. They also need two points Saturday night, if that game is played.
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