New York Rangers left wing Alexis Lafreniere (13) celebrates with center Vincent Trocheck (16) and defenseman Erik Gustafsson (56) after scoring the winning goal during overtime of an NHL hockey game against the Colorado Avalanche, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Alexis Lafreniere scored 1:53 into overtime and the New York Rangers rallied to beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 on Monday night.
Artemi Panarin also scored and Jonathan Quick stopped 31 shots to help the Rangers get their second straight win and their 15th comeback win this season.
Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche, who had won three straight. Alexandar Georgiev finished with 27 saves against his former team.
In the extra period, Mika Zibanejad dropped the puck to Lafreniere, who then whipped a shot past Georgiev for his 13th goal of the season and third overtime winner of his career.
“Luckily it went in, so that was good,” Lafreniere said. ”That was big win against a really good team. We wanted to play better defense, and I think we did a really good job.”
The Central Division-leading Avalanche, starting a season-high six-game trip, are 11-3-1 in their last 15 games and 5-2-1 in their last eight on the road.
MacKinnon got his team-leading 32nd goal with 1:48 left in the opening period, firing the puck past Quick to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
Cale Makar and Josh Manson had assists on the play, giving Colorado a league-best 155 points from its defensemen. Makar has 305 points in 283 career games, two shy of tying Tyson Barrie as highest-scoring defenseman in franchise history.
MacKinnon has points in 14 straight games and in 33 of his last 34 games overall. The 28-year-old forward is tied with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov with an NHL-leading 85 points.
After Georgiev frustrated the Rangers for more than 50 minutes, Panarin scored his team-leading 31st at 11:17 of the third to tie it. The Rangers outshot…
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