MacKinnon extends goal streak, but Avalanche lose to Rangers

NEW YORK -- Nathan MacKinnon scored in a sixth straight game to start the season, but the Colorado Avalanche lost to the New York Rangers 3-2 in a shootout at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday.

MacKinnon scored with 13 seconds left in the second period to tie the game 2-2 and pass Mats Sundin for the franchise record. Sundin scored in five straight games for the Quebec Nordiques to start the 1992-93 season.
"It's cool to have a record. Beating a guy like Sundin is pretty special," MacKinnon said. "With this year, expectations were different for me coming in (after finishing second in the Hart Trophy voting for NHL MVP). Last year, no one really expected much, probably another 50- or 60-point year. I just wanted to have a good start and get the ball rolling in the right direction."
WATCH: [All Avalanche vs. Rangers highlights]
Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the shootout and had two assists each for the Rangers (2-4-0). Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes scored for New York, and Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves.
Shattenkirk was scratched against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.
"Last Thursday was a tough pill to swallow but I think it helped me," Shattenkirk said. "You get to sit back and analyze the game a little bit. ... Getting that assist on the power-play goal, after that, it kind of felt like I was playing my game again."

Shattenkirk, who was selected by the Avalanche in the first round (No. 14) of the 2007 NHL Draft, has 22 points (five goals, 17 assists) in 27 games against them and is 10-for-29 in the shootout.
"He shows what a pro is," Lundqvist said. "Not a lot of guys can respond the way he did. He proved that you sit him outside, he comes back with two really strong games. And that just proves what he's made of. I'm happy for him. He played great today. ... I like when I see guys respond like that."

Gabriel Landeskog scored, and Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves for the Avalanche (3-1-2), including 13 on the penalty kill.
"[Varlamov] was at his best on our penalty kill," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "We took five or six penalties, gave up some good looks, a couple seam passes there that he looked really quick on, was making reads. ... I thought it was a pretty well-played hockey game. There's obviously some things we have to clean up on the defensive side of things, but we also did some good things offensively, getting it at the net, coming up with some rebounds. Shootout, you can flip a coin for me how it's going to turn out."
Kreider gave New York a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 12:07 of the first period. He deflected a shot by Shattenkirk for his third goal of the season.

Colorado tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal by Landeskog at 8:13 of the second period.
Hayes gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead at 10:53 of the second on a one-timer off a pass from Zuccarello for his first goal of the season.
Mikko Rantanen had an assist on Landeskog's goal to give him an assist in each of the first six games. MacKinnon has seven goals this season.
"I thought we played pretty good," MacKinnon said. "We had a lot of chances. I thought we played solid. I mean, we didn't give them much. They had a lot of shots, but they weren't very high-quality shots. [Varlamov] played well, on the penalty kill especially."
Lundqvist made 24 saves after the first period. Colorado hit the post twice in overtime.
"It sounds a little silly after just a few games, but it's hard to catch up, and we want to stay in the race here," he said. "It's important to win games when you have the possibility to win."

They said it

"That's a good team we played. They are fast and they made the playoffs last year and are going to be a playoff team this year as well, probably. It was a great test for us, and I thought there certainly was more of an edge to our game." -- Rangers coach David Quinn
"I think there's certainly a sour taste in our mouth losing the game, but it's one game and we're going to move past it and play two days from now." -- Avalanche defenseman Ian Cole

Need to know

Eight of Shattenkirk's 10 shootout goals are game-deciding. ... Colorado is 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) on the power play with at least one goal in five of its six games. ... Avalanche forward J.T. Compher (concussion) was scratched. ... Lundqvist has allowed two goals in each of his five games and saved 153 of 163 shots (.939 save percentage). ... MacKinnon had 97 points (39 goals, 58 assists) last season and finished second to New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall for MVP.

What's next

Avalanche: At the New Jersey Devils on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; MSG+, ALT, NHL.TV)
Rangers: At the Washington Capitals on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, TVAS)