Avs tie game, top Rangers in shootout
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs New York Rangers.Goalie Semyon Varlamov stopped all three shooters he faced in the shootout Thursday to help the Colorado Avalanche to a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Pepsi Center.
Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie, who tied the game with 51.4 seconds left in the third period, scored the lone goal in the tiebreaker with a shot over Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist's right pad in the first round.
Barrie connected for the tying goal with a shot from the slot that skimmed by Lundqvist's left leg after the Rangers failed to clear the puck with Varlamov on the bench for an extra attacker.
The Avalanche stretched their winning streak to five games. The Rangers completed a four-game road trip at 2-1-1.
New York (43-30-5) is second in the Metropolitan Division, four points (91-87) in front of the Philadelphia Flyers (39-28-9), who lost 2-0 to the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Rangers have four games remaining, and the Flyers have six.
Colorado (49-21-6) is second in the Central Division, three points (104-101) ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks (43-19-15), who defeated the Minnesota Wild 3-2 in a shootout. The Avalanche have six games to play, and the Blackhawks have five.
Derek Stepan gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 15:30 of the second period with his 16th goal, first in six games. Stepan picked up a loose puck in his own zone and skated down the left wing into the Avalanche end on a 2-on-1 rush. He kept the puck as he moved toward the net and shot it under Varlamov's left arm.
After killing off a Rangers power play that began 25 seconds after Stepan scored, the Avalanche went on a power play with 49 seconds left in the period. But Gabriel Landeskog, who took three minor penalties, tripped Stepan while trying to get the puck with 19.1 seconds remaining, resulting in a four-on-four skating situation for 1:24.
The Avalanche tied the game 1-1 on a goal by defenseman Andre Benoit at 5:57 of the second after Varlamov made a stop against New York's Martin St. Louis. The rebound caromed to Ryan O'Reilly, who made a long pass to John Mitchell. Benoit joined Mitchell on a 2-on-1 rush, and Mitchell passed across to Benoit, who went from his forehand to his backhand and chipped the puck over Lundqvist's glove.
Defenseman John Moore, in his first game after missing six games to recover from a concussion, scored on the first shot of the game at 2:10 of the first period for a 1-0 Rangers lead. Moore ripped a shot from the left point that found its way behind screened Varlamov for his fourth goal.
Moore's return took some of the sting out of losing defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who missed his first game of the season after sustaining a shoulder injury Tuesday against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Rangers killed off all four of the Avalanche's power plays and have thwarted 42 of 45 penalties in the past 16 games.
The Avalanche lost left wing Cody McLeod to an apparent left leg or knee injury at 13:43 of the second period. McLeod fell awkwardly into the boards and needed assistance getting off the ice.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
Eurolanche.com, Worldwide, eurolanche@eurolanche.com
04/04/2014 - 06:00
