"That's the frustrating part about it: to play so well for 58 minutes and not to capitalize," Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said.

The New York Rangers have perked up their play since the start of 2025, going 4-1-2 in the new year, including 3-0-2 in their past five games, after finishing 2024 on a 4-15-0 slide. That’s helped them hang around in the Eastern Conference Turtle Derby for the two wild card spots, where Wednesday began with eight teams are separated by six points.

Falling just short, 3-2 in overtime, to a strong Avalanche team Tuesday night at Ball Arena, the Rangers felt like they had the game in hand for 58 minutes before Colorado forced overtime with a late score in the third period and ultimately won on a goal from Devon Toews in the extra period.

Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar had a blunt, one-word summation after his team rallied for a 3-2 overtime win against the New York Rangers, calling it “unimpressive.”

Despite losing 3-2 in overtime against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night, the Rangers have reasons to be happy. For the most part, the Rangers played a gritty 60 minutes of hockey, a new style that this team has recently adopted. The fourth-line duo of Sam Carrick and Adam Edström were fantastic once again as they both had goals of their own.

The Rangers were just a minute away from winning their third straight game, but the Avs tied it with 1:13 left, then won it late in overtime.