Rangers win fourth straight, top Avs
The official game recap Colorado Avalanche vs New York Rangers.Henrik Lundqvist made 29 saves for the New York Rangers, who moved into first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche at Pepsi Center on Friday.
The Rangers (9-2-2), lead the Washington Capitals by two points. They have won four games in a row and have gone 6-0-2 in the past eight games.
The Avalanche (4-9-1) have lost two games in a row and are 2-7-1 in their past 10 games.
Derek Stepan and Oscar Lindberg scored goals 21 seconds apart in the second period to put the Rangers ahead 2-1.
Stepan scored a power-play goal at 12:42 from the left slot after taking a pass from Mats Zuccarello. Ryan McDonagh started the play when he launched a shot off the end boards that caromed over the net to Zuccarello, who made a quick pass to Stepan. Zuccarello stretched his scoring streak to three games (three goals, two assists).
The Rangers went ahead when McDonagh passed from the left corner behind the net to Lindberg, who was along the goal line on the right side. He flipped the puck toward the net and it went in off goalie Reto Berra's blocker at 13:03.
New York killed off two Avalanche power plays late in the period to retain the lead.
Nathan MacKinnon gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 7:13 of the first period. MacKinnon maneuvered around Rangers defenseman Dan Girardi in the left corner, moved to the net and used McDonagh as a partial screen before shooting the puck under Lundqvist's outstretched glove.
The Rangers had killed 19 consecutive penalties in the previous eight games.
MacKinnon was hit on the right hand with under a minute to play Thursday in the Avalanche's 4-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes and it was unclear if he would be in the lineup.
MacKinnon centered a line with Alex Tanguay on the left and Matt Duchene on the right, a combination coach Patrick Roy used late Thursday. MacKinnon didn't take any faceoffs in the first period and one in the second.
Tanguay sustained a knee injury late in the second period and didn't return.
The Rangers played without left wing Rick Nash, who is listed as day-to-day after sustaining a back injury in practice Thursday.
Berra made 31 saves.
-- by Rick Sadowski for NHL.com --
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07/11/2015 - 06:30
