For 51 minutes, nothing got past Alexandar Georgiev. The former Ranger was again dialed in for the Avalanche, who were holding onto a 1-0 lead that Nathan MacKinnon provided in breathtaking fashion.

With every big stop Georgiev made against the Blueshirts, it looked like the result was a forgone concluded. That was until Artemi Panarin flipped the script by scoring his team-leading 31st goal off a faceoff with less than nine minutes left in regulation. Panarin’s clutch goal, along with Jonathan Quick’s splendid play, allowed the Rangers to pick up a huge come from behind 2-1 win over the Avalanche.

Quick was stellar in holding the explosive Avs to one goal. He made 32 saves on 33 shots, including a big one that led up to Alexis Lafreniere scoring at 1:53 of overtime to give the Rangers the victory. After Quick stopped Devon Toews on a MacKinnon setup, he came way out of the net on the next sequence to make a risky pass up for Mika Zibanejad. Zibanejad then made a between the legs drop for Lafreniere, who made a great move and shot that went far side on Georgiev to win the game.

The risk paid off. Lafreniere’s 13th goal of the season gave Quick his 11th win of the season. At this point, it’s been the brilliant play of Quick that has the Rangers leading the Metropolitan Division with 32 games remaining. With the Hurricanes idle, they moved four points up. Carolina has two games at hand. The Rangers are up to 65 points with the Hurricanes at 61.

It was a feelgood victory. It came against a Western heavyweight. The Avalanche certainly created their chances by attacking during the first two periods. MacKinnon extended his point streak to 14 by making a great rush in transition to beat Quick with a laser that went off of Braden Schneider for a one-goal lead for Colorado.

If there’s an area the Rangers excelled at, it was on the penalty kill. They were aggressive during three successful kills on the dangerous Avalanche power play in the first period. Chris Kreider was stopped twice on shorthanded bids by Georgiev. Even a bogus call on Lafreniere didn’t deter the Rangers. They got it done.

Both Quick and Georgiev were busy making tough saves in a wide open first period. The Avalanche held a 14-11 edge in shots. They only were able to get one past Quick. It took a perfect play by MacKinnon to score his 32nd goal to tie Nikita Kucherov for first in league scoring.

Afterward, Quick made the critical stops on MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen to give the Rangers a chance. It’s what he’s done all season. His play has been consistent. At 38 years young, the affable American born goalie has outplayed Igor Shesterkin. He’s a big reason for why the Rangers are where they are in the standings. So much for preseason.

It’s Quick who’s delivered in the biggest moments. Rangers goalie coach Benoit Allaire has again helped a goalie become better in the twilight of their career. Quick deserves all the credit for all the work he’s put in. He’s been a great teammate and valuable member. Where would this team be without him?

If the first period was defense optional, the second period was the polar opposite. The issue for the Blueshirts is that they could hardly muster anything against a more stingy Avalanche defense. There wasn’t much happening at even strength. Panarin was bottled up. Even sidekick Vincent Trocheck couldn’t find much space to work with.

The first line in name only was again neutralized. Neither Zibanejad nor Kreider could get much done at five-on-five. Blake Wheeler played mostly with them until Laviolette made a key change when the game was on the line. He got better as it went on.

The only line that generated anything was the one centered by Jonny Brodzinski. It was the third line that featured Will Cuylle and Kaapo Kakko, which did a good job of applying forecheck pressure in the second half of a dull second period. The Rangers were held to six shots. Quick made 10 more saves to keep it close.

If there was one change in the third period, it was the Rangers showing some resiliency. Instead of giving up, they built momentum during each shift. With the Avalanche backing up a little bit due to Georgiev continuing to make the key saves, that allowed the Blueshirts to be in attack mode. The Avs dumped the puck in more and tried to protect a one-goal lead.

With Georgiev denying Zibanejad on a one-timer, it looked like the strategy would work. However, Laviolette wisely moved Panarin up to the first line following a stoppage. The gamble paid off. After a Zibanejad faceoff win, K’Andre Miller and Schneider combined to get the puck to Panarin. He wisely skated to the middle of the ice and fired a wrist shot that banked off MacKinnon past Georgiev to tie the score with 8:43 left in regulation.

Speaking of Miller, he had a better night. Though he got beat by the magnificent MacKinnon late in the first, he was much better throughout the game. Paired with Schneider, Miller played a more active game – making better plays defensively while creating offense. For a while, I’ve suggested Miller and Schneider as a pair. The idea of moving Erik Gustafsson up to play with Jacob Trouba, who’ll return on Wednesday, makes sense. We’ll see what the coaching staff decides when the Lightning are in town.

Zac Jones also had another good showing filling in. He didn’t make any glaring mistakes while teamed with Gustafsson. Jones is the odd man out. However, he’s done a nice job since returning to the lineup. All six defensemen played over 18 minutes. Ryan Lindgren returned and logged 19:44 alongside partner Adam Fox (22:18). That’s the kind of balance needed moving forward.

There were no penalties called after the first period. That made it a better game. Especially when things picked up late. After Panarin evened the score, it was pretty obvious that it would require overtime. Thankfully, there were some fireworks.

Quick made saves on MacKinnon and Toews. He then made a great read to cover for a Zibanejad turnover that could’ve had a bad ending. It was as risky as it looked. His pass to Lafreniere got through. Lafreniere then worked a give and go with Zibanejad. He got the puck back and maneuvered around and beat Georgiev with a great snapshot high blocker for the overtime winner.

It’s exactly the start the Rangers needed to the second part of the season. They earned it against one of the league’s best teams. Let’s see what they do for an encore tomorrow night against Nikita Kucherov and the Lightning.