Compher scores in OT, Avalanche defeat Rangers to keep pace in Central

DENVER -- J.T. Compher scored at 2:50 of overtime, and the Colorado Avalanche kept pace in the Central Division with a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Pepsi Center on Wednesday.

The Avalanche remained two points behind the St. Louis Blues for the division lead; the Blues defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-2.
Pavel Buchnevich tied the game for the Rangers with 13 seconds left in the third period and goalie Alexandar Georgiev pulled for an extra attacker. New York hadn't tied a game in the final minute of the third period since April 5, 2019, when Buchnevich scored with seven seconds remaining against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
WATCH: [All Rangers vs. Avalanche highlights]
Compher won it for Colorado when he tipped in a shot by Cale Makar, who had three assists in his first game after missing five with an upper-body injury.
"It's kind of a blur," Makar said. "Their guy screened their goalie, I just threw it to the net and I saw [Compher] was going there. He got a great stick on it, put it over his shoulder, I think. I didn't really see the puck go in, but it was a great tip by him."
Tyson Jost and Vladislav Namestnikov scored, and Pavel Francouz made 30 saves for the Avalanche (42-20-8).
"I thought it was special teams and goaltending, that's what it was," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I thought we were not good 5-on-5, which is usually the strength of our game. Penalty kill was excellent; I thought those guys did a real nice job again and I thought we had some guys play real hard, log a lot of minutes, way more than they normally do.
"On the defensive side, I thought we were terrible. [Francouz] was awesome and we got the win, and we'll take it."

Mika Zibanejad scored, and Georgiev made 25 saves for the Rangers (37-28-5), who pulled within two points of the Carolina Hurricanes and Blue Jackets for a wild card in the Eastern Conference. New York won 4-2 at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.
"We're not happy to lose a game, but we'll take the point and move on," Zibanejad said. "I think as of these last two months we've been fighting, and obviously there's frustration that creeps in when you don't score on your opportunities. But at the same time, we just keep going."
New York took a 1-0 lead at 6:28 of the first period on Zibanejad's 11th goal in six games. He raced from his end into the right face-off circle and shot far side for his 41st of the season.
Jost tied it 1-1 with a wrist shot from the right face-off circle for a power-play goal at 11:27.
Colorado took a 2-1 lead at 3:55 of the second period on a power-play goal by Namestnikov that came 45 seconds after the Rangers failed to score on a 5-on-3 power play that lasted 50 seconds.
"First one was a break-in, and they come with a lot of speed, made a nice play," New York defenseman Marc Staal said. "And then the second, it was just a quick shot from the outside that had eyes. They had a good screen in front. It happens sometimes. Obviously we'd like to have killed them off and kept them off the board, but they made two nice plays. It happens."

Georgiev made a save on Matt Nieto's penalty shot at 4:43 of the third, and Buchnevich tied it 2-2 when he redirected Artemi Panarin's feed at 19:47.
"For sure it was disappointing to get scored on late in the game," Francouz said. "It was kind of an unlucky play, but it doesn't matter now. We still have two points, and that's big."

They said it

"Coming off a back-to-back, everyone was on board. We worked hard, got the point, could have got two, but this time of year you scratch and claw and get as many as you can." -- Rangers defenseman Marc Staal
"We know how big of a part Nate is to this team, and obviously he's been my linemate for as long as I can remember. You get used to playing with somebody, especially a player who is so high caliber and in my opinion one of the top two centers in the League. It's a big piece, but it just fueled us, the whole team and obviously our line as well that we want to come out and prove that it's not just Nate." -- Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog on center Nathan MacKinnon, who is out 1-2 weeks with a lower-body injury

Need to know

Zibanejad has 11 goals and two assists in a six-game point streak and has scored in 12 of his past 13 games. … Buchnevich has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Landeskog has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) in his past 13 games. He moved past Paul Stastny into 10th place in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history with 460 points.

What's next

Rangers: At the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A, FS-A PLUS, MSG, NHL.TV)
Avalanche: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Friday (9 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ALT2, SNP, NHL.TV)