With the Colorado Avalanche in the midst of a dramatic and memorable weekend that saw them trade a superstar away, they also had two afternoon games to play. After their 3-1 loss in Boston yesterday, today they took on the New York Rangers, who were 7-0-3 in their last 10 games behind a balanced offensive attack and the brilliance of goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

It was a recipe for an uphill climb for the Avalanche. What nobody expected was an offensive shootout, which is exactly what we got in a 5-4 win for the Avalanche. It was the first time in the last seven meetings between these two teams that overtime was not needed to determine a winner.

How did we get there? Let’s talk about it.

The new guys got it going for the Avs

Jack Drury has been lost in the shuffle of the star power involved in the blockbuster that swapped Mikko Rantanen and Martin Necas, but he’s a role player the Avalanche have high hopes for.

We saw a bit of what they are looking for from him today when he put his hard hat and went to work against the Rangers. He got the scoring started in the game with an outrageously cool tip-in goal. It was just his fourth goal of the season but it was also the first point of Keaton Middleton’s career, so that was also neat.

While Drury’s line alongside Ross Colton and Miles Wood got their head kicked in at 5v5 throughout the game, we still saw plenty of flashes of what the Avs are hoping to get more of from Drury. The goal was great, but that isn’t going to be a consistent part of his game.

Mainly, we saw him taking important draws on the penalty kill. He took three of them today, winning two. He played 1:01 of PK time in the third period, carving out a role on that unit already. He’s not likely to displace any of the regulars overnight, but his ability to win faceoffs and compete will make him a quick favorite of the coaching staff.

Necas is the other new acquisition for the Avalanche who is still getting his feet wet. The game in Boston yesterday was a bit tentative and he was clearly still trying to feel his way around Colorado’s systems and new linemates, but today was a different Necas.

We saw an aggressive player who transported the puck through the neutral zone with ease and a guy who the Rangers struggled to contain in the offensive zone. He finished with two assists and hit two posts on the same power play, coming within inches of his first Avalanche goal. He also led the Avs in shots on goal with three.

The speed and ease with which Necas plays has already been a natural fit alongside Nathan MacKinnon and it is easy to see where those two could make magic together in the future. Instead, Necas was cooking it up with Colorado’s other superstar.

Cale Makar is still special

There was a six-game lull recently where Makar had only one point and looked nothing like the world-beater we have come to expect from him. After his three-point outburst (2G, 1A) today, he’s up to six points in his last five games with five of those points being goals.

Makar geared it up today when he gave the Avs a (brief) 2-0 lead when he took a Necas drop pass and ripped it past Shesterkin. It was a wonderful play by MacKinnon at the blueline to get the puck to Necas, who had a decent look in the middle of the ice but knew he had help coming in the best goal-scoring defenseman in the world. Safe to that was a smart gamble by Necas.

After the Avs relinquished the two-goal lead, they got an opportunity on the power play late in the period and that feeling of existential dread washed over everyone. Makar took that away when he took a nice cycle from Necas and MacKinnon and ripped it home for his second of the game.

It was a power-play goal and everyone was pretty excited that the power play amounted to more than a waste of two minutes.

With the Avs up 4-3 in the third period, Makar actually scored a goal for the hat trick but it was immediately waved off on the ice due to goaltender interference by Miles Wood. With the hat trick gone, the Avs never got the chance at an empty net because the Rangers tied the game with 4:58 remaining in regulation.

From there, Makar was called for a phantom Holding the Stick penalty at 17:36 of the third period. It was a truly terrible call, but it put the Avs in position of needing to kill the penalty and they would likely get to overtime (again) and get at least one point.

Instead, this happened.

Makar got out of the box, stole a cross-ice pass, and took it the other way, creating a 3v1 rush. He passed it to Artturi Lehkonen, who ripped it home for the game-winning goal with only 14.7 seconds left in regulation.

A fitting end to a spectacular day from Makar.

Avs find rare lineup balance

I talked about this a few games ago, but the Avs lineup looked quite a bit different during that game. With Necas and Drury slotted into a lineup that also included Miles Wood back from injury, we saw a deeper forward group than we’ve arguably seen all season for the Avalanche.

The third and fourth lines were interchangeable with Drury and Parker Kelly centering lines that had different strengths and weaknesses. The result was Colorado’s top line only playing 14:51 of 5v5 time with the Casey Mittelstadt second line playing 12:01. Kelly’s line played 9:18 with Drury’s only getting 7:52 of 5v5 time together, but with different combinations and special teams duties involved, every Avalanche forward played over 10 minutes.

Maybe just as importantly, no Avs forward played over 20 minutes. After playing a career-high 25:08 yesterday, Necas led the Avs forwards in TOI at just 19:34.

I know it was the second game of a back-to-back, but that balance is still a huge thing for the Avs. They have run the top of their forward corps into the ground in recent years and I think it created some bad coaching habits from Jared Bednar along the way. This more well-rounded forward corps should help him stop spamming the MacKinnon line whenever he can and rely on more than four forwards at a time.

It’s a small detail, but one that I think matters in trying to keep MacKinnon fresh for the postseason.