Late-Game Blunder Leads To Crushing Loss For Rangers Against Avalanche

The one word to describe the New York Rangers’ Sunday afternoon loss to the Colorado Avalanche is crushing.

For the majority of the contest, Colorado had the Rangers on the ropes and dominated offensive possession time for a large part of the day.

The Rangers have transformed into a much more structured and tight defensive unit, but against the Avalanche they were far from that.

The Blueshirts committed multiple costly turnovers and gave a speedy Colorado team way too much room to operate, which led to their downfall.

Despite all of the constant mistakes, the Rangers kept finding a way to fight their way back.

On two separate occasions, the Rangers found themselves down by two goals and managed to tie the game both times, showing resilience and heart.

The Rangers went on the power play with just over two minutes left in the third period with a point seeming almost certain barring a glaring mistake.

Following the penalty though, the Rangers did not track Cale Makar coming out of the penalty box and an offensive zone turnover led to an odd-man rush and ultimately, Artturi Lehkonen scored with 14.7 seconds left.

The Blueshirts left Madison Square Garden empty-handed and to say they are frustrated is an understatement.

“Everybody is frustrated, disappointed,” Peter Laviolette said. “Guys kept fighting the entire day to get back in that game and finally caught it and caught a power play at the end to try and win it, so that’s a tough loss… It’s frustrating, it’s tough.”

With the wild card race in the Eastern Conference so tight, every single point matters from here on out.

The Rangers are in the thick of that playoff hunt due to their dreadful stretch in December, which put them in a big hole.

They have managed to climb back into the playoff race, but this loss certainly sets them back.

Players were still pleased with the effort they put on display as there are some positives to take away.

“I think our team is still playing well and we are moving in the right direction,” Reilly Smith said. “It’s one of those games you wish you can take some of the mistakes back, but it is what it is. There are a lot of positives that we can still build off today.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Tuesday night against the Carolina Hurricanes.