DENVER — Imagine if this game was played in front of no people?

Amid the coronavirus scare and the possibility of empty buildings in the near future — if not a suspended NHL schedule — the Rangers contested one of the most exciting games of their season, a back-and-forth affair in which they tied it with 13 seconds left in regulation before losing to the Avalanche, 3-2 in overtime, on Wednesday night.

The emotion was pouring out of the Blueshirts as Pavel Buchnevich knotted the game 2-2 on a deflection of an Artemi Panarin centering feed, hitting the shaft of Buchnevich’s stick and going in while goalie Alexandar Georgiev was on the bench for the extra attacker. The 3-on-3 overtime was soundtracked by the ringing of pipes until J.T. Compher deflected a Cale Makar shot that snuck over Georgiev’s shoulder for the game-winner 2:50 into the extra frame.

“We got the point, and obviously we’d like to have two,” defenseman Marc Staal said. “But this time of year, scratch and claw and get as many points as you can.”

The point got the Rangers (37-28-5) to within two of the Blue Jackets for the second wild-card spot, hard earned after opposing goalie Pavel Francouz made a handful of terrific saves late in the game to help his hobbled Avalanche (42-20-8) win without injured star Nathan MacKinnon.

After Georgiev stopped a Matt Nieto penalty shot 4:43 into the third period to keep the deficit 2-1, Francouz denied a breakaway from Kaapo Kakko and then another from the hottest player in the league, Mika Zibanejad, in alone for a shorthanded chance turned aside with 2:20 left in regulation.

Zibanejad had scored his 41st of the season 6:26 into the first period, with Tyson Jost and former Ranger Vlad Namestnikov both getting power-play goals to give Colorado a 2-1 lead. But it was all preamble to the breathtaking end, and the Rangers trying not to focus on the uncertainty of the sports world as a whole.

“We certainly are confident and aren’t wavered by any adversity right now,” coach David Quinn said. “That is a great sign for our team moving forward.”

Center Filip Chytil missed the game with a lower-body injury suffered Tuesday in Dallas, but Quinn said he is “day-to-day” and the injury “isn’t that bad.”

Forward Steven Fogarty was recalled from AHL Hartford on an emergency basis and went into the lineup, playing 8:36. Because it was an emergency recall, the Rangers still have two regular recalls remaining before the end of the regular season.

Quinn put his two stars, Panarin and Zibanejad, together for most shifts starting the second period.

Winger Brendan Lemieux might get a call from the Department of Player Safety on his penalized blindside hit to Joonas Donskoi at 17:08 of the third period.