Floundering Rangers left to ponder latest ‘frustrating’ loss: ‘It’s not good enough’

The Rangers, coming off a loss to open a four-game homestand and in desperate need of a win to keep pace in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, had the edge on paper heading into Tuesday night’s game against the Calgary Flames.

Calgary, coming off a 6-3 drubbing in Toronto, didn’t arrive in New York until around 3 a.m., just 17 hours ahead of puck drop at Madison Square Garden. So perhaps the Flames could be forgiven for conceding after the Rangers’ first goal came on their second shot of the game and just 73 seconds into the contest.

But it would be the Blueshirts who deserved no forgiveness for what followed as the travelers shook off any bit of weariness to outwork and out-desire their hosts sentencing New York to a 2-1 defeat that saw the Rangers muster just 11 shots over the game’s final 58:47.

“It's frustrating. Really frustrating,” forward Mika Zibanaejed said. “I don't care if we play like that and we win. If we lose and we play like that’s not acceptable.”

The loss, coupled with Montreal's win over Ottawa, dumped New York out of playoff position with just 13 games remaining to put last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners at risk of facing a long summer.

“It’s concerning for any time of year when you don’t play a game that you’re proud of,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “It was not a good showing.”

Goaltender Igor Shesterkin, who made 33 saves including several from point-blank range and several following bad giveaways right in front of his net, was the sole skater in blue who could take any measure of pride from the night’s work.

“Shesty stood on his head, it easily could have been worse,” Vincent Trocheck said of the netminder.

But the rest of the Rangers? The forwards generated just six of the team’s 13 shots on goal, the power-play failed to generate a single shot in its lone chance (and was serenaded by boos from the MSG crowd), and the Flames rarely felt any heat when moving the puck through the neutral zone.

"We just weren't working as a group of five on the ice enough tonight,” Trocheck said about the lack of chances. “They were on top of us the whole night.”

The second period, in which the forwards were held shotless, was particularly poor. But Zibanejed saw little difference between the periods.

“It’s the whole game, it’s not just that second period, even the third period I’m disappointed we don’t have a better push than that. It’s not good enough,” he said, adding later, “We’re lucky it’s 2-1 [and] we still had a chance the way we played the first two periods.”

Zibanejad added that the disconnect between the players was “everywhere.”

“With the puck, were slow getting out of our own zone, were slow moving up the pucks, were slow getting open,” the forward said.

New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette watches his team from the bench during the third period against the Vegas Golden Knights at Madison Square Garden. / Danny Wild-Imagn Images

The analysis from the head coach was straightforward.

“We didn't break the puck out,” Laviolette said. “We didn’t move it through the neutral zone, we probably turned it over countless times in the neutral zone… we didn’t get it behind them and when we did get it in there, they worked harder for the ice than we did.”

He added: “They were faster than us, they got to the ice quicker than us, they were more ready. That’s the way the game played out.”

The forecheck was particularly nonexistent, as the Rangers forced just one takeaway.

“We have a system in place that we need to use,” Troucheck said. “It takes five guys in the forecheck, five guys in the neutral zone, and five guys in the D zone. And I felt like at times we had three and the other two weren’t in it.

“It just doesn't work when you have that.”

For Zibanaejed there was “no execution” tonight.

“As forwards for our D, we’re too far away from each other in the forecheck and I think that’s the result of getting stuck in the neutral zone and kinda staying still with one guy kinda going,” he said. “One-man forecheck has not been good for us lately. And that obviously leads to us going back and play in our zone.”

“We just weren’t sustaining any pressure,” defenseman K’Andre Miller added.

Now, once again, the pressure will be ratcheted up on the Rangers to respond.

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Floundering Rangers left to ponder latest ‘frustrating’ loss: ‘It’s not good enough’

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