Lindgren was the heart and soul of the defense, but general manager Chris Drury understood what needed to be done — and still does.

The New York Rangers' 5-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, albeit keeping them within the Eastern Conference wild-card race, was an uninspiring one. New York spent much of the first and second periods shackled to its own zone and was outshot 39-16 in the game.

With the game tied 1-1, the Avalanche got their only power play of the night late in the third period. They nearly came up empty before MacKinnon passed it to Valeri Nichushkin below the goal line. Nichushkin saucered a pass to Mittelstadt on the other side of the net, and Mittelstadt's shot went off Nedeljkovic and in at 15:51.

Longtime New York Rangers Ryan Lindgren and Jimmy Vesey are heading to the Colorado Avanche. The Rangers are trading Vesey and Lindgren to the Avs for a package including Juuso Pärssinen, Calvin de Haan and two draft picks, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh first reported the full trade.

DENVER -- Artturi Lehkonen scored twice for the Colorado Avalanche in a 4-1 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Ball Arena on Tuesday.

Casey Mittelstadt scored the go-ahead goal on a power play with 4:09 remaining, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

Splitting their first two games after the 4 Nations Face-Off break should hardly matter to the Rangers hierarchy that watched the team get destroyed in Buffalo and barely escape Pittsburgh with a win over the last-place club in the Metropolitan Division.

Nathan MacKinnon and Sidney Crosby teamed up to help Canada win the 4 Nations Face-Off last month, and now the good friends from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia, will be back battling each other when the Colorado Avalanche meet the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night in Denver.

It’s generous to say the Penguins made progress on Sunday. However, they did manage to avoid giving up a touchdown’s worth of goals for the first time this weekend. So, yes, their play in a 5-3 defeat

March 5 - Artturi Lehkonen scored two goals, Casey Mittelstadt netted the tiebreaking tally with 4:09 to go and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 on Tuesday in Denver.