The Colorado Avalanche’s power play had a very bad Tuesday night, and the head coach called it the least of his worries. That’s how little Jared Bednar thought of his team’s performance — even if the result ended up being much better than the process. Devon Toews scored with 36.1 seconds left in overtime and the Avalanche rallied for a 3-2 win against the New York Rangers at Ball Arena. “Hey, we’ll take the points, but yeah … unimpressive,” Bednar said. “Ultimately, it’s like we only had half the team playing. That’s it. Sums up everything.” Mackenzie Blackwood was certainly one of the guys who did play. The goaltender was brilliant and the Avs found just enough offense in the end. Nathan MacKinnon had assists on the game-tying and game-winning goals. The winner was only possible because of a great overtime shift from Logan O’Connor, who doesn’t get a lot of those. “Effort — that was straight effort,” Bednar said of O’Connor. “That was effort and determination. He not only does everything right to get in the zone, then he checks the puck back twice. That’s the effort it takes to score in this league, and that’s the effort it takes to defend in this league.” Artturi Lehkonen saved the Avs from scoring one or zero goals for the third time in four games, and sent this contest to overtime with 73 seconds left in regulation. Lehkonen pounced on the rebound of a Mikko Rantanen shot during a 6-on-5 situation with an empty net at the other end. It was Lehkonen’s 16th goal in 33 games for the Avs this season, after missing the start of the campaign while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. “(Lehkonen) doesn’t score because he’s the most skilled guy, the biggest, strongest or fastest guy,” Bednar said. “He scores because he’s an intelligent hockey player, and he gives you maximum effort all the time.” The game-tying goal came after a long stretch where it did not look like the home team had a comeback in it, but Blackwood’s strong play earlier in the contest kept Colorado within striking distance. Blackwood continued his excellent form since arriving in a trade from San Jose. He still has not allowed more than two goals in any of his 12 starts with the team. “It’s huge,” Blackwood said of the comeback. “We didn’t play our best hockey for the first 40 minutes, but we didn’t quit at the end and we found a way to come back and get two points.” The Avalanche power play has had a couple of valleys among the peaks this season, and it’s currently deep in one. Colorado did not score on three chances with the extra man Tuesday, leaving the Avs with just six goals in 51 opportunities over the past 17 games. They had a third chance in the final period while trailing by a goal, but the top unit struggled to get set up in the offensive zone and there was even a light smattering of boos by the time the second unit took over. To make matters worse, the Rangers scored shorthanded on the Avs’ first extra-man chance of the night. Cale Makar whiffed on a shot at the top of the offensive zone, which allowed Sam Carrick to break in alone on Blackwood and score at 11:55 of the first period. “Least of my worries tonight,” Bednar said. “Couldn’t care less. We’re having a tough enough time rolling out three lines, never mind the power play.” Related Articles Colorado Avalanche | Jared Bednar denies Gabe Landeskog report, Valeri Nichushkin has a setback and more Avalanche injury updates Colorado Avalanche | Avalanche Journal: A midseason check-in on NHL awards with Colorado contenders Colorado Avalanche | Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck shuts out Avalanche in Winnipeg again Colorado Avalanche | Champion goalie Nicole Hensley returns to Denver for PWHL Takeover Tour as a women’s hockey trailblazer Colorado Avalanche | Josh Manson delivers “one of his best” performances in much-needed Avalanche win New York took the lead with the lone goal in the middle frame. It was another play that started with Colorado in control of the puck in the offensive zone. Sam Malinski tried to pass the puck to Casey Mittelstadt at the top of the left circle. The pass was off the mark and Mittelstadt getting a stick on it only helped the Rangers race the other with a 2-on-1. Josh Manson tried to break up the play when Carrick had the puck, but he was able to slide it over to an unmarked Adam Edstrom for another 1-on-0 goal at 9:59. Malinski and Mittelstadt were the two players whose ice time was cut the most. Malinski took just one shift in the final 29 minutes of the game, while Mittelstadt was demoted to the fourth line and did not play in overtime. “All the lineup changes were based on me just trying to put players out that looked like we cared and wanted to work,” Bednar said. Parker Kelly gave the Avalanche an early lead with his fifth goal of the season. Makar retrieved a loose puck along the right wall and sent it to Ross Colton in the corner. Colton hit a wide-open Kelly cutting toward the net for a goal at 4:53. The assist for Makar gave him 50 points on the season, which leads all NHL defensemen. Makar is also now the first defenseman in franchise history with five seasons of 50-plus points. Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.