Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) and forward Artturi Lehkonen (62) celebrate after Lehkonen's winning goal with seconds left in an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/John Munson)
NEW YORK (AP) – Artturi Lehkonen scored the tiebreaking goal with 14.7 seconds left and Mackenzie Blackwood made 33 saves as the Colorado Avalanche defeated the New York Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.
Defenceman Cale Makar scored twice and assisted on the winning goal, while Jack Drury and Juuso Parssinen also scored for the Avalanche, who won for the first time since acquiring Martin Necas and Drury in a trade Friday that sent top Colorado scorer Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Necas and Avalanche captain Nathan MacKinnon each had two assists.
The Rangers trailed 4-2 late in the second before defenceman Will Borgen scored at 18:05 followed by Artemi Panarin’s 21st goal of the season to tie it at 15:02 of the third.
But after the Rangers failed to score on a late third-period power play, Lehkonen beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin to finish a slick passing play with Makar for his 20th goal.
Elsewhere in the NHL on Sunday:
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SENATORS 3 UTAH 1
OTTAWA, Ont. (AP) – Claude Giroux broke a third-period tie and added an assist, rookie Leevi Merilainen made 34 saves and Ottawa beat Utah 3-1.
Giroux gave Ottawa a 2-1 lead at 7:33 and helped set up Brady Tkachuk’s goal with 6:38 remaining. Tim Stutzle also assisted on both goals.
Ottawa was coming off a 2-1 victory over Toronto on Saturday night.
Ridly Greig opened the scoring for Ottawa with a short-handed goal with 7:44 left in the second period. Clayton Keller tied it 1:36 later.
Karel Vejmelka stopped 24 shots for Utah, which closed a three-game trip with its second straight loss.
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JETS 5 FLAMES 2
WINNIPEG, Man. (AP) – Gabriel Vilardi had two goals and two assists, Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists, and Winnipeg beat Calgary 5-2.
Mark Scheifele had a goal and an assist, and Mason Appleton also scored for the Jets. Eric Comrie had 20 saves to help Winnipeg win its third straight and sixth in the last eight games.
MacKenzie Weegar and Nazem Kadri scored for the Flames, who had won three straight. Dan Vladar finished with 22 saves.
Connor got the Jets on the scoreboard first at 5:28 of the first period with his 27th goal of the season as he juked around a Flames defenceman, then deked Vladar and beat him with a backhander.
Appleton made it 2-0 midway through the second when he intercepted a pass in front of Vladar and fired the puck into the open net.
Weegar’s power-play goal with just under five minutes remaining in the middle period pulled the Flames within one, but Vilardi restored the Jets’ two-goal lead with 51 seconds to go in the second.
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WILD 4 BLACKHAWKS 2
CHICAGO (AP) – Jared Spurgeon, Joel Eriksson Ek and Frederick Gaudreau scored to help Minnesota top Chicago 4-2.
Matt Boldy had three assists for Minnesota in the opener of a five-game trip. The Wild had lost five of six.
Chicago was limited to five shots on goal before rallying in the third period. Seth Jones scored on a power play and Frank Nazar added his third of the season at 4:16, trimming Minnesota’s lead to one.
But the Wild held on in the final minutes, and Marcus Foligno closed it out with an empty-netter with 1:42 left. Filip Gustavsson finished with 18 saves.
The Blackhawks dropped to 1-4-3 in their last eight games. They lost three of four in the season series against the Wild.
Minnesota jumped in front on Spurgeon’s wrist shot from the high slot 5:43 into the first period. Gaudreau made it 2-0 when he beat Petr Mrazek on the goaltender’s glove side from a tough angle at 7:17.
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GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 PANTHERS 1
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Adin Hill made 32 saves, Tanner Pearson had his first game-winning goal of the season and Vegas beat Florida.
The Golden Knights came in losers of seven of their last nine and got a much-needed victory over the defending Stanley Cup champions to open their three-game homestand.
Brayden McNabb, Jack Eichel and Tomas Hertl also scored for Vegas, and Nic Roy had three assists. Anton Lundell scored for Florida, and Spencer Knight stopped 22 shots.
The Panthers were playing their fourth road game in six nights and were on the second leg of a back-to-back after beating San Jose 7-2 on Saturday night.
The Golden Knights reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Pacific Division, moving a point in front of Edmonton.
