New York, NY (My Sportsbook) - New York Rangers president and general manager Glen Sather returned to the bench as the club's coach on Thursday and the team continued its losing ways with a 4-3 overtime setback to the Colorado Avalanche at Madison Square Garden.

Sather announced Thursday that he will assume the head coaching duties, one day after the firing of Bryan Trottier.

New York rallied for two third-period goals to grab a 3-2 lead on Thursday, but Alex Tanguay scored with 4:18 left in regulation to tie it and Greg de Vries won it at 2:29 of overtime.

The Rangers are a disappointing 21-26-6-2 this season, last in the Atlantic Division. With the 11th seed in the Eastern Conference, the Rangers are on the way to their sixth straight season without a playoff berth despite the league's highest payroll.

New York has lost four straight games, including a pair to the lowly Atlanta Thrashers.

This will mark the third coaching stint of Sather's professional career, following two separate coaching runs with the Edmonton Oilers (1977-78 through 1988-89 and 1993-94).

Sather guided the Oilers to 12 straight playoff appearances -- WHA and NHL, four Stanley Cup championships and five Stanley Cup Finals appearances during his initial coaching tenure. He had a career record of 464-268-110 with Edmonton.

Trottier was named the 30th head coach in Rangers' franchise history on June 6, 2002. The 46-year-old had been an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche during the previous four seasons.

He scored 524 goals and had 901 assists during his 18-year career as a player in the NHL. He spent 15 years with the cross-town rival New York Islanders and three with the Pittsburgh Penguins before being inducted to the Hall of Fame in 1997.