Rangers' late-game breakdown, Urho Vaakanainen and 4 Nations Face-Off: Weekly observations

NEW YORK The point was right there for the taking.

All the Rangers had to do was hold onto the puck and get to the finish line.

New York had already erased a pair of two-goal deficits Sunday against the Colorado Avalanche and had a late power play with a chance to ensure two points.

Even though the Rangers didnt score, the two minutes with the man advantage nearly walked them all the way to overtime, which wouldve at the very least kept the teams 10-game point streak alive.

Advertisement Almost.

The referees had called Cale Makar for holding Alexis Lafreniere s stick late in regulation, and he said the two-minute wait led him to feel the most nervous he ever has in the penalty box.

With 24 seconds left, he burst free and saw Will Borgen preparing to make a cross-ice pass.

I knew he didnt really see me, Makar said.

For the longest time, the Rangers had a familiar voice on the bench who would call out 30! 30! when power plays were winding down, followed by Even! Even! when the power play was up.

That was trainer Jim Ramsay, who was let go prior to the 2023-24 season after 30 years with the team.

The Rangers might have a designated voice on the bench to communicate when power plays are ending, but it didnt appear that way on Sunday.

Igor Shesterkin banged his stick on the ice to alert the players, as many goalies around the league do, and Artemi Panarin said he heard Shesterkin.

Borgen, though, was clearly not aware of the oncoming Makar, who intercepted his pass at the blue line.

I knew he was coming out, but I didnt see him, Panarin said.

He was behind.

Then I didnt even touch the puck.

He just jumped in front of me.

Panarin acknowledged he was tired during the play and did not backcheck fast enough to prevent a three-on-one rush for Colorado.

Makar fed Artturi Lehkonen , who buried a backdoor shot past Shesterkin.

With 15 seconds left, the Avalanche had the lead for good.

Coach Peter Laviolette saw the play as the Rangers still trying to be aggressive and win the game while the Avalanche, on the heels of a penalty kill, had only four players in the defensive zone.

In hindsight, he said, he wished Borgen had simply put the puck deep, almost certainly sending the game to overtime.

Just didnt catch the guy coming out of the box, Laviolette said.

Advertisement The point that got away could be costly.

The Rangers have had a strong January, going 8-2-3 and surging back into the wild-card mix.

The regulation loss to Colorado put them back in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, both in points and point percentage.

Tie game with (15) seconds left, Chris Kreider said after his teams 5-4 loss.

Its a hard one to give up.

The end-of-game breakdown leads off this weeks observations column.

We have 13 this week to match Lafrenieres jersey number.

1.

The Avalanche game was the second time in the last two seasons the end of a penalty bit the Rangers.

In the first period of their game with the New York Islanders on March 17, a four-on-four turned into a Rangers power play in the first period.

An Islanders defenseman iced the puck after the Rangers power play began but the Rangers didnt notice their advantage had started, thinking it was icing, and the Isles scored a short-handed goal against a confused Rangers group.

During the intermission of that TNT broadcast, former Ranger Keith Yandle spoke about Ramsays booming voice coming off the bench.

He was a loud guy and he might be missed in that situation there, Yandle said.

2.

If the Rangers barely miss the playoffs this year, they will have nightmares about Lehkonen.

He has single-handedly cost the Rangers at least two points in the standings this season.

He scored the empty-net, game-tying goal when the Rangers were in Denver, and the Avalanche won in overtime.

Then his last-second goal Sunday cost the Rangers at least one and maybe two points.

3 .

The Rangers got better as the game went on against Colorado, perhaps because the Avalanche were on a back-to-back.

They had 71 percent of the expected goal share at five-on-five in the third period, according to Natural Stat Trick , and got a game-tying goal from Panarin.

Advertisement Its tough to take a moral victory in a game like that where you dont get any points, Laviolette said.

4 .

Sam Carrick has four goals and eight points in 13 games since the calendar flipped to January.

He finished a Matt Rempe rebound Sunday for his fifth goal of the year.

It was also Rempes third point of the year, a career high in his second season.

The Adam Edstrom-Carrick-Rempe fourth line has been productive during the Rangers strong January.

GO DEEPER Sam Carrick's sweet side hustle 'a big hit' with Rangers teammates and around NHL 5 .

With the team continuing to collect points, Jimmy Vesey has been one of the odd men out of the lineup.

He hasnt played since Jan.

11.

Ive got a tremendous amount of confidence in Jimmy and the way he plays the game, Laviolette said.

I understand hes been here a while and is a really good two-way player who can defend.

He can also contribute offensively.

But right now the lineup that weve been going with, weve found some success with.

Thats the lineup that weve chosen.

6.

In the third period of the Avalanche game, Makar scored what would have been his third goal of the game, but the refs waved it off instantly for goaltender interference on Miles Wood .

A few fans threw hats on the ice, but the Avalanche did not challenge and the goal did not count.

Their hats were for naught.

That no-goal turned out to be a big one.

The Rangers would have gone down 5-3 had it counted.

Instead, they were down only one and managed to come back.

We were all huddled and then I saw the ref wave no goal, Makar said.

Its kind of weird.

In my opinion, you should never wave it no goal.

I feel it should be on the other team to challenge it if it goes in the net.

7 .

Shesterkin had allowed only one goal in 10 periods entering Sundays game.

He allowed two in the first period against the Avalanche and five in the game, but most were either screened or difficult-to-stop shots.

He mightve liked the Juuso Parssinen goal back, though.

He appeared to be caught off guard and was late when the Finn snapped a shot past him from the slot.

8 .

Urho Vaakanainen is a potential injury replacement for Finlands 4 Nations Face-Off team.

Jani Hakanpaa has played only two games this year for Toronto and none since November.

Asked if hes been told to stay ready, Vaakanainen said, I dont know if Im allowed to say, but yeah.

Vaakanainen, who came to New York in the Jacob Trouba trade, booked a vacation for the 4 Nations break but made sure its cancelable.

Advertisement 9 .

The Avalanche and Carolina Hurricanes shook the NHL with a monster trade Friday .

Colorado sent superstar wing Mikko Rantanen to Carolina for Martin Necas and Jack Drury , nephew of Rangers general manager Chris Drury.

Chicago was also involved, retaining 50 percent of Rantanens cap hit and sending Carolina Taylor Hall for a third-round pick.

That means the Rangers played Colorado on Sunday and will play Carolina on Tuesday at interesting times.

We wouldve faced them anyway, right? Laviolette said when asked about Rantanen and Necas.

Were playing both teams.

Nothing changes.

They just changed uniforms.

10 .

Chris Drury wore No.

18 during his playing days with the Avalanche.

After Fridays trade, his nephew Jack is now wearing No.

18 with the Avalanche.

With his uncle watching, Jack Drury became the first player involved in the trade to score.

He tipped a Keaton Middleton shot past Shesterkin to put the Avalanche up early.

11 .

Every Rangers and Avalanche player involved in major transactions over the weekend had a point in Sundays game.

Drury scored and Necas had two assists.

Meanwhile, Borgen, who agreed to a five-year contract extension with a $4.1 million average annual value, beat out Jonathan Drouin for a rebound late in the second period, poking the puck into the Colorado net.

Unfortunately for Borgen, his late turnover was his most memorable play of the game.

That didnt take away from teammates excitement about the extension.

Hes been unbelievable, Kreider said.

Its obvious what he brings on the ice.

Deletes space.

Hes very hard to play against.

High motor.

Really excited for him.

GO DEEPER Rangers, Will Borgen agree to 5-year, $20.5 million extension 12 .

The NHL has been releasing a quarter-century team for each club in the league, and the Rangers came out Sunday.

Four current players made the first team: Kreider, Mika Zibanejad , Panarin and Adam Fox , who were joined by Ryan McDonagh and Henrik Lundqvist.

Jaromir Jagr, Derek Stepan, Mats Zuccarello , Dan Girardi, Marc Staal and Shesterkin were on the second team.

Advertisement 13 .

Jonathan Quick s last start in Montreal was a wild one and ultimately another letdown loss in his pursuit of 400 career wins.

Hes been less than 10 minutes away from No.

400 in each of his last two starts only to suffer overtime losses.

He was also battered around a fair bit in that game eight days ago, coming up a bit lame after a second-period save and taking a couple knocks from Montreal players as well as a Rempe collision in the third.

The encounter with Juraj Slafkovsky was the most bizarre.

The two got tangled and lost their sticks, and Quick played a sequence with Slafkovskys stick.

When the whistle blew and Slafkovsky went to retrieve it, a scrum ensued.

He jabbed me a little, Quick said, so he wasnt leaving there with his stick, no way.

(Top photo: Wendell Cruz / Imagn Images).

This article has been shared from the original article on theathleticuk, here is the link to the original article.