Cale Makar scored twice and set up the tiebreaking goal by Artturi Lehkonen with 15 seconds remaining as the revamped Colorado Avalanche blew a pair of two-goal leads before earning a dramatic 5-4 victory over the host New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon.
Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood (33 saves) made a sliding stop on Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer with 61 seconds left while Makar served a penalty. His penalty expired with 24 seconds left, and upon exiting the penalty box the defenseman intercepted a cross-ice pass from Will Borgen intended for Artemi Panarin at the blue line in New York’s offensive zone.
Makar gained possession, started a 3-on-1 and made a pass from the right circle to Lehkonen, who lifted the puck over Igor Shesterkin. Newcomer Jack Drury and Juuso Parssinen also scored for the Avs, while Nathan MacKinnon and new acquisition Martin Necas set up both Makar goals.
The Rangers had forged a 4-4 tie when Panarin sent a rebound of Vincent Trocheck’s shot into the vacated left side of the net with 4:58 left. Sam Carrick, Trocheck and Borgen also scored for New York.
Senators 3, Utah 1
Claude Giroux was one of three Ottawa skaters to end lengthy scoring droughts as his third-period game-winner propelled the host Senators past the Utah Hockey Club.
Giroux scored for the first time since Dec. 29, ending a 13-game drought, and the 37-year-old added an assist. Ridly Greig ended a goalless streak that started on Jan. 3, and Brady Tkachuk broke through with an insurance goal after going pointless in 10 straight games. Leevi Merilainen made a season-high 34 saves.
Clayton Keller’s team-leading 18th goal came unconventionally for Utah, but it was not enough to avoid a second consecutive loss. Karel Vejmelka finished with 24 saves.
Jets 5, Flames 2
Gabriel Vilardi scored two goals and matched a career high with four points to pace host Winnipeg to a victory over Calgary.
Kyle Connor scored once in a three-point outing, while Mark Scheifele netted one goal and an assist and Mason Appleton added a goal for the Western Conference-leading Jets, who have won three straight games and are on a 7-2-1 run. Goaltender Eric Comrie made 20 saves, earning his first victory since Nov. 1.
MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri replied for the Flames, who saw their three-game winning streak snapped but remained in the Western Conference’s second wild-card position. Goalie Dan Vladar stopped 22 shots.
Golden Knights 4, Panthers 1
Adin Hill made 32 saves and Brayden McNabb had a goal and an assist as Vegas moved into first place in the Pacific Division with a victory over Florida in Las Vegas.
Jack Eichel, Tanner Pearson and Tomas Hertl also scored goals, Nicolas Roy had three assists and Keegan Kolesar added two for Vegas, which won for just the second time in its past seven games. Hill, who tied a career high with his 19th win of the season, snapped a personal three-game losing streak.
Anton Lundell scored for Florida, which was playing its second game in as many nights after cruising to a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks on Saturday. Spencer Knight finished with 22 saves as the Panthers finished a four-game road trip with a 2-2-0 record.
Wild 4, Blackhawks 2
Jared Spurgeon, Frederick Gaudreau and Joel Eriksson Ek scored to give visiting Minnesota a three-goal edge, and it held on to beat Chicago.
Marcus Foligno scored once in a two-point game and goaltender Filip Gustavsson made 18 saves for the Wild, who snapped a two-game losing streak and had won one of their last six. Matt Boldy collected three assists. Minnesota has a 15-0-1 record against the Blackhawks dating back to Feb. 4, 2020.
Seth Jones and Frank Nazar replied for the Blackhawks, who sit at the bottom of the Central Division and have only one victory in their last eight games (1-4-3). Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 24 shots.
–Field Level Media
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