If Thursday night was a glimpse of the Stanley Cup Final, Avalanche fans would be interested.
But with a different result.
At Ball Arena, New York won against Colorado 3-2 in a shootout, securing their second extra-time victory over Colorado this year. The Avs experienced consecutive losses for the first time in over a month.
Vincent Trocheck scored the decisive goal in the shootout as the Avs failed to score on their two shots. Consequently, Nathan MacKinnon's streak of scoring points in 35 consecutive home games and 19 consecutive overall games came to an end.
The beginning of the game indicated a close, well-played match between two top NHL teams, possibly a future championship series. New York, leading the Eastern Conference with 100 points, was the first team to reach this milestone, while the Avs held third place in the Western Conference with 97 points.
Both teams had six shots and successfully defended against a penalty, resulting in a 0-0 tie after the initial 20 minutes, while the home crowd and the significant New York fanbase engaged in chants.
In the second period, Alexandar Georgiev delivered an outstanding performance in goal, preventing New York from scoring. At 5:39 in the period, he blocked Artemi Panarin's shot and received praise from the Ball Arena crowd.
A few minutes later, Georgiev made another impressive save to maintain the scoreless game. This time, he denied Chris Kreider's strong shot, deflecting it out of play with his blocker.
On the other end of the rink, Colorado had multiple opportunities, but Igor Shesterkin kept denying them until the Avs scored with 32 seconds remaining in the period.
During this play, Josh Manson passed to Brandon Duhaime, who then delivered an excellent assist by outpacing his defender, maintaining control of the puck, and passing to a wide-open Casey Mittelstadt near the faceoff circle.
Mittelstadt capitalized on this opportunity, scoring to give Colorado a 1-0 lead in a highlight-reel play involving two recent trade acquisitions.
The Rangers quickly responded in the third period, breaking Georgiev's shutout with Kaapo Kakko's goal. Kakko received a loose puck behind the net and scored to tie the game 1-1 within three minutes of the period.
About six minutes later, the Rangers took the lead with a power play goal. Panarin's shot deflected off Vincent Trocheck in front of the net, and Kreider easily scored from the right side.
Avs coach Jared Bednar disputed the goal, suggesting that Trocheck's assist might have been a hand pass as it seemed to touch his glove. However, the officials disagreed. Colorado received a two-minute bench minor for delay of game, but they successfully defended against the penalty.
After a short while, Colorado responded with Devon Toews's powerful shot from close to the blue line. Shesterkin initially blocked it, but it was redirected by a Rangers player and went under the goalie's leg to tie the score at 2-2.
Towards the end of the third period, both teams tried to score, but neither managed to do so, not even during the three-on-three overtime.
