Avalanche's 5-goal second period buries Rangers

[December 09, 2021] Logan O'Connor scored twice in 22 seconds late in a five-goal second period for the Colorado Avalanche, who concluded a five-game road trip with a 7-3 rout of the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

O'Connor capped the outburst that saw Colorado score five times on 13 shots.

He put the Avalanche up 5-2 at 17:14 when he breezed past Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller and lifted a wrist shot from the low right circle over goalie Adam Huska.

O'Connor then recorded his first career multi-goal game when he finished off a breakaway following an errant New York line change.

Nathan MacKinnon started the dominating period by scoring his second goal of the second at 4:48, tying the game 2-2. Nazem Kadri gave Colorado the lead for good 83 seconds later and Alex Newhook scored a power-play goal midway through the second.

Newhook's goal occurred shortly before MacKinnon absorbed a hard hit from New York defenseman Jacob Trouba. MacKinnon missed the rest of the second period before returning in the third. Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog responded by fighting Trouba.

Mikko Rantanen scored Colorado's first and final goals as the Avalanche scored seven goals for the fifth time this season, wrapped up a 3-1-1 trip and moved to 10-2-1 in their past 13 games.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard (49) falls on top of New York Rangers goaltender Adam Huska (32) during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper made 26 saves in his return from a lower-body injury, though he briefly exited in the third period due to an equipment issue. Jonas Johansson stopped the lone shot he faced in his 1:33 stint.

Trouba and Filip Chytil scored and rookie Nils Lundkvist got his first career goal during a power play as the Rangers saw their eight-game home winning streak stopped. New York's seven-game overall winning streak ended, too.

Huska allowed seven goals on 39 shots in NHL debut after replacing the injured Igor Shesterkin on the roster. He also withstood a collision with Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard midway through the third period that resulted in a brief skirmish.

After the Rangers went ahead 2-1 on Lundkvist's wrist shot with 1:45 remaining in the first, MacKinnon maintained his balance and shoveled the puck under Huska for a 2-2 tie. Kadri followed with a tip-in of Cale Makar's long drive, and Newhook made it 4-2 by lifting a one-timer from the right circle over Huska's right shoulder.

Kadri, Girard and Devon Toews each had two assists for Colorado.

--Field Level Media

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