Losing Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden felt like a missed opportunity in the Rangers' race back up the standings.

The New York Rangers dropped a heart-breaker Sunday afternoon, losing 5-4 to the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden. Despite

Martin Necas had two assists, nearly scored twice himself and excelled on the top line. Jack Drury scored a goal and centered a new-look depth line while all 12 Avs forwards played more than 10 minutes, a departure from the usual top-heavy distribution.

Cale Makar was denied a hat trick Sunday afternoon. He won the game for the Colorado Avalanche anyway. Makar came out of the penalty box, picked off a pass and set up Artturi Lehkonen with 14.7 seconds in the third period for the winning goal in a wild 5-4 victory for the Avs against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Avalanche forward Artturi Lehkonen scored the game-winning goal with 15 seconds left in the 5-4 victory over the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The two points put Colorado ahead of Minnesota for the Central Division’s No.