Avalanche weekend notes: Avs survive Shesterkin, MacKinnon highlight reel goal, next challenge

The Colorado Avalanche continue to roll. The club bounced back with a 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon at Madison Square Garden. The win was huge as it marked a solid bounce-back game following Thursday’s loss to the New York Islanders at UBS Arena.

The Avs continue to lead the NHL, becoming the first team this season to hit 20 wins. Colorado now has 46 points on the season and is closing in on the half-century mark. Another win on Sunday would put the Avs one step closer towards a record-setting season.

With that in mind, here’s a look at this edition of the Avalanche weekend notes:

Avalanche survive Shesterkin

For the second game in a row, the Avalanche faced an all-world Russian netminder. This time, it was Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers’ goalie has been among the best this season. He’s consistently kept the Rangers in every game, with Saturday being no exception.

Shesterkin made 39 saves in the game. He was brilliant, particularly since the Rangers did not let up throughout the game. The game would have been a blowout for Colorado if not for Shesterkin’s brilliant outing.

All told, the Avalanche survived Shesterkin. Nathan MacKinnon’s two goals had to be highlight-reel tallies to be an early Vezina Trophy candidate.

MacKinnon highlight-reel goal

Speaking of Nathan MacKinnon and his highlight-reel goals, his overtime winner was one for the ages. It took that sort of effort to defeat Shesterkin on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Rangers, MacKinnon preyed on some of the Rangers’ lesser defensive players.

Here’s a look at MacKinnon describing the goal following the game:

My colleague Graham Tiedtke did a fantastic job of covering the goal. Check it out here. The other goal, a somewhat controversial one, showed MacKinnon’s uncanny hand-eye coordination.

Here’s a look at it, as shown on the Avalanche’s official X account:

The goal did not meet a challenge for a high stick. The Rangers came back to tie the game, setting up MacKinnon’s OT heroics.

Next challenge in Philadelphia

The Avalanche will now move on to their next challenge. That comes on Sunday night against the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center. The game is another early start for the Avs.

Trent Miner will likely get the call after MacKenzie Blackwood started at MSG. The game will mark the Avalanche’s third game against Metro Division teams in this road trip. The Flyers have been much improved under Rick Tocchet this season. They’re hanging around the fringes of the Eastern Conference playoff race.

So, the Avs should find another team looking to play its best hockey against the NHL’s leading team. A win would give Colorado 21 wins and 48 points on the season.