The New York Rangers (45-19-8, 98 PTS) may have entered Saturday night's game the second best team in the NHL according to points percentage (No. 2 with .679), but the Colorado Avalanche (39-30-5, 83 PTS) played like the better team as they produced a 3-1 win.
Dominating the the Rangers physically (27 hits to 17), the Avalanche were able to pressure the Rangers into 10 giveaways and find just enough quality shots to score three goals on the night. Avalanche G Semyon Varlamov fended off a relentless Rangers' offense, saving 42 shots on goal for a .976 save percentage. Meanwhile, the New York goalie, Henrik Lundqvist (19 saves, .895 SV%), found himself unable to play to his season norms.
The Rangers broke onto the scoreboard first when LW Mats Zuccarello fired his first goal of the season ten minutes into the opening period. D Matt Hunwick responded less than five minutes later, notching his third goal of the season to put the game at 1-1.
Colorado grabbed the lead in the second period on LW Gabriel Landeskog's 21st goal of the season, and then added some security with a power play goal from C Paul Stastny in the waning seconds of the game.
For more coverage, visit our Avalanche blog Mile High Hockey and our Rangers blog Blueshirt Banter