Frustrated Avs look to find net at Rangers
The Colorado Avalanche will try to rebound from a rare offensive breakdown when they visit the New York Rangers on Tuesday.
Though the Avalanche rank second in the NHL in goals scored, they couldn't put any pucks over the line in a 1-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Monday. It was just the second time all season that Colorado has been shut out, and the blanking comes on the heels of a six-game stretch that saw the Avalanche score 29 goals.
Defenseman Nikita Zadorov seemingly put Colorado on the scoreboard during the second period, though the goal was called back after a video review. Referees determined that Andre Burakovsky was offside in the lead-up to Zadorov's score, with the puck crossing the blue line high in the air.
"When it happened, I felt like the puck was past me, and I felt like I was on the right side [of the line]," Burakovsky told Altitude TV. "It's a tough call for a linesman to judge that, but it was unfortunate."
Monday's defeat snapped a two-game win streak for the Avalanche. Colorado remains five points behind the first-place St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.
The club's New York trip now quickly heads from Long Island to Manhattan, where the Rangers are also trying to get on track after a three-game losing streak.
Saturday's 2-1 road loss to the Vancouver Canucks was a tough one for the Rangers, as Tyler Myers scored with just 89 seconds remaining in the game to put Vancouver ahead.
"It really was a kick in the gut to have [Myers'] shot go in, and to play as well as we did in the third and give that up late," Rangers coach David Quinn said. "But hey, we've got to fight through some adversity here. I think we can certainly draw from this game to understand what we're going to have to do to have success."
A 3-6-1 record over their last 10 games has dropped the Rangers seven points behind the Florida Panthers for the last Eastern Conference playoff spot. With 41 games played, New York will begin the second half of its schedule in comfortable surroundings, as 10 of the Rangers' next 13 games are on home ice.
Goaltender Igor Shesterkin is scheduled to make his NHL debut for New York on Tuesday. A veteran of six Kontinental Hockey League seasons, Shesterkin has been impressive in his first taste of North American action, posting a 1.93 goals against average and .932 save percentage over 23 games this season with the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack.
Henrik Lundqvist will serve as Shesterkin's backup on Tuesday. The Rangers will continue take a "day by day" approach to their goaltending situation, Quinn said, as the team will juggle playing time for Shesterkin, Lundqvist and Alexandar Georgiev.
Avalanche backup goalie Pavel Francouz started against the Islanders, so regular starter Philipp Grubauer will be back between the pipes on Tuesday. Grubauer has turned things around after a five-game winless drought and is 2-0-0 with a .912 save percentage in his last two starts.
Colorado is 3-3-1 in the second game of back-to-back games this season.
Rangers forward Chris Kreider has 13 points (six goals, seven assists) over his last 13 games.
--Field Level Media
