The Rangers have now won a league-leading 49 games. They found a way past the Avalanche in a 3-2 shootout victory last night in Colorado.

In a marquee matchup that featured two of the league’s best teams, the Rangers banked points 101 and 102 to stay first overall with nine games remaining. They have a one-point lead on the Stars for the President’s Trophy. The Bruins and Hurricanes have 99 points. The Avalanche and Canucks each have 98.

Whether or not they grab home ice for the entire playoffs, the Rangers continue to win consistently this season.

Two days removed from pulling out a wild 6-5 overtime victory over the Flyers at home, they went on the road and beat an elite team. The Avalanche boasts Hart candidate Nathan MacKinnon, Norris candidate Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen. They’re three of the game’s best players.

Colorado is in a battle with Dallas for first place in the Central Division. The former 2021-22 Stanley Cup champs upgraded their roster by adding center Casey Mittelstadt at the trade deadline in exchange for defenseman Bowen Byram. Despite being without Gabriel Landeskog for the whole season, they remain formidable.

Led by MacKinnon, whose 123 points (45-78-123) rank second in scoring behind Nikita Kucherov (42-82-124), they are an explosive offense. Rantanen and Makar are dynamic stars who can strike on any shift. Makar has the ability to jump in on the rush and cause headaches for opponents. He nearly ended the game in overtime when he went around K’Andre Miller.

A subplot was the head to head goalie battle between former teammates Igor Shesterkin and Alexandar Georgiev. Shesterkin was particularly strong in the later stages – stopping 16 of 17 shots during the third period. He followed that up by making five more saves in overtime. That included a diving stop to prevent a sure goal.

Overall, Shesterkin made 38 saves and stopped both Mittelstadt and Rantanen in the shootout to get the win. He was selected as the game’s third star. They gave Artemi Panarin the first star for scoring in the first round of the skill competition. As brilliant as Panarin’s been, Shesterkin was the best player on Thursday night. He stood on his head.

Unlike Tuesday night, goals were hard to come by. There was no scoring until Mittelstadt beat Shesterkin with 33 seconds remaining in the second period. He took a good back pass from Brandon Duhaime and scored his 17th goal to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.

Miller was occupied with Duhaime, who made a good play. Panarin went to the bench on a line change. The Avalanche took advantage of that. Vincent Trocheck was too late to pick up Mittelstadt on the goal.

Through two periods, play was pretty even. The Avalanche led in shots 18-16. Each side only had six in a tight checking first. Colorado held a 12-10 edge in the second.

Trailing by one, the Rangers came back early in the third period to tie and grab the lead. On a smart play behind the Avalanche net, Kaapo Kakko stuck with it to bank the puck off Georgiev and in for an unassisted goal that tied the score at 2:59. It was his 11th goal.

Alex Wennberg returned to the lineup after missing the Flyers game. He was back between Kakko and Jonny Brodzinski. The fourth line consisted of Barclay Goodrow between Will Cuylle and Jimmy Vesey. Matt Rempe had the night off.

The biggest story was the return of Ryan Lindgren. Less than two weeks ago, he suffered a leg injury versus the Islanders when he and Jean-Gabriel Pageau came together. It looked serious. Fortunately, Lindgren didn’t miss significant time. He’s a warrior.

Lindgren was back on the top pair with Fox. He took 27 shifts and blocked three shots in 21:11 of ice time. Jacob Trouba skated at yesterday’s practice in a regular jersey. He’s getting closer to returning. Even without the Rangers’ captain and Erik Gustafsson, they’ve gotten steady play from veteran Chad Ruhwedel. He and Zac Jones have been consistent.

With the Rangers and Avalanche even on the scoreboard, Panarin drew a holding minor on Zach Parise. On just their second power play, the Blueshirts went to work. On a Panarin point shot, the puck went off Trocheck in front right to Chris Kreider, who scored his team-leading 14th power-play goal. It was the 299th goal of his career.

Following the goal, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar decided to challenge the play for a hand pass. They thought the puck was played illegally by Trocheck. However, the refs determined that it wasn’t a hand pass, making it a good goal. The puck deflected off Trocheck to Kreider for his 34th of the season. That put the Rangers ahead by one with 10:25 left in the third.

Due to the failed coach’s challenge, the Rangers went back on the power play. Unlike the successful five-on-four that they had previously, they were unable to take advantage of the opportunity. That left the door open for the Avalanche.

With the Avs applying heavy pressure, they finally found a way to tie the game. On a dominant shift from their top line, Devon Toews took a MacKinnon feed and fired a one-timer that Shesterkin made the save on. However, Lindgren accidentally put the puck in his own net. He tried to tuck it underneath Shesterkin. Instead, it became an unassisted goal for Toews. That tied the score with 7:13 left in regulation.

After Toews’ tying goal, the Avalanche had a few chances to go ahead. Makar missed wide on a dangerous opportunity. Parise had a shot go off the goalpost. Shesterkin made a few timely saves to help the Rangers force extras.

In the three-on-three portion, he made a couple of clutch stops to keep it alive. The Rangers played the overtime without Adam Fox, who took a puck up high late in regulation. He was okay. Miller, Jones, and Braden Schneider took the shifts in OT.

With time winding down, Trocheck got one final shot right on Georgiev, who made the glove save at the buzzer.

In Round 1 of the shootout, Panarin used a forehand deke to beat Georgiev upstairs. After Shesterkin foiled Mittelstadt, Mika Zibanejad tried to go to one but lost control of the puck. Georgiev looked to be there anyway.

Following a strong save from Shesterkin on Rantanen, Trocheck came out as the Rangers’ third shooter. He faked and then beat Georgiev to clinch the victory.