The Rangers have rediscovered their resilience since they shut the door on 2024, locked it and threw away the key in the Hudson River.
It resulted in a 10-game point streak that has salvaged their season and thrust the team right into the thick of the Eastern Conference wild-card race, but a 5-4 loss to the Avalanche on Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden halted the run and served as a reminder that resiliency will only take them so far.
Despite the Blueshirts rallying from two two-goal deficits, Artturi Lehkonen scored with 14.7 seconds left in regulation to end the Avs’ three-game losing skid.
Artturi Lehkonen #62 of the Avalanche scores the game-winning goal against Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin #31 on Jan. 26, 2025.
“I think we’ve been playing pretty good, but right now it’s about collecting the points, too,” head coach Peter Laviolette said after the loss. “When you’ve got one point sitting there, it’s tough.”
This was the first of a tough two contests against two teams — the Avalanche and Hurricanes — who were just involved in one of the NHL’s biggest blockbuster deals in a while.
Two clubs with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations making big moves to better their chances.
Arrturi Lehkonen of the Avalanche and Vincent Trocheck of the Rangers react to Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar’s first-period goal on Jan. 26, 2025.
The Rangers have not been able to clear that Eastern Conference Final in two of the past three seasons, and after a near catastrophic collapse earlier in this campaign, there’s no question they are not just one or two pieces away from achieving their goal.
Nothing is more clear than when they stack up against a high-octane Colorado team with consistent game-changing skaters like Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon.
That pair, by the way, combined for two goals and three assists, with Makar, the 2022 Norris Trophy, winner doing most of the work on Colorado’s game winner.
Makar jumped out of the penalty box and intercepted Will Borgen’s pass intended for Artemi Panarin, who didn’t have enough left at the end of a long shift to defend the Avs’ odd-man rush.
The UMass product flew down the ice before feeding Lehkonen for a one-timer that blew past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin.
In a 16-save performance, it was the first time since Dec. 28 that Shesterkin gave up five goals.
“On a different night, we win that game,” Reilly Smith said.
Laviolette wasn’t totally pleased with the Rangers’ first period, in which the home team emerged down 3-2.
At the very least, this is not the same Rangers team that buckled at the first sign of adversity earlier this season.
Rangers winger Artemi Panarin with the puck against the Avalanche on Jan. 26, 2025.
It is, however, still debilitated by the same costly turnovers.
A weak clearing attempt from Panarin led to a Juuse Parssinen one-timer, which whipped right under the glove of Shesterkin to give the Avalanche a 4-2 lead in the middle frame.
In his first game since signing a five-year, $20.5 million extension with the Rangers, Borgen pounced on a loose puck in the crease to cut the Avs lead to 4-3 at the 18:05 mark of the second period.
Panarin later made up for the blunder with a little under five minutes left in regulation, when the star Russian wing made it a 4-4 game after putting back a long rebound for his 21st goal of the season.
“Resilience is a good word, confidence is another word you could use,” Adam Fox said. “I think we’re getting back that swagger of knowing we can score and put up goals. We’ve been doing a good job up until recently of keeping the puck out of our net.
“Obviously, [the Avalanche] has fire power and we have a great goaltender, too, so that helps to keep it out. I think we’re not as deflated when a mistake happens or things don’t go our way.”
