TAMPA, Fla. — After limping into the holiday break, the Rangers face-planted coming out of it.
Prior to the game, Peter Laviolette talked about how there was only one direction his team could move at this point, but the 6-2 beatdown the Blueshirts suffered at the hands of the Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena said otherwise.
The Rangers head coach also noted he’s seen breaks go one way or another for teams.
Brayden Point (21) is mobbed by teammates behind a dejected Jonathan Quick after scoring his second goal of the game in the Rangers’ 6-2 blowout loss to the Lightning on Dec. 28,2 2024.
After this one, the early indication is that the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners can in fact unravel even more.
Their season continues to head toward complete and utter ruin, with Rangers star goalie Igor Shesterkin getting pulled for the second time in his last five starts Saturday night.
“Right now, it’s just frustrating,” Laviolette said after the Rangers put 44 shots on goal, their second-highest shot total of the season, and still lost. “We’re in the business of winning hockey games and we’re not getting that done right now. It’s tough to sit here and tell you good things. We’re losing games. We need to win hockey games and we’re not getting that done.”
There was talk about the mental benefits of the three-day break.
Proclamations about the intent to turn the season around, and how to do it.
That’s all it was at the end of the day: Talk.
Anthony Cirelli scores a goal on Igor Shesterkin, who was later pulled from the game, during the second period of the Rangers’ loss.
The Rangers may have had a solid start to the game, but the battery life on their motor has been quick to drain this season.
Considering the fact that they’ve reached a minefield portion of their schedule, with all but one of their next eight games coming against teams in playoff position, the Rangers aren’t going to get by any club without a full 60-minute effort.
It’s been a considerable amount of time since the Rangers last put together three periods they felt proud of.
They’ve now lost eight of their last 10 games, as well as 14 of their last 18 to sink further in the NHL standings.
After the Islanders defeated the Penguins on Saturday night, the Rangers now have sole possession of last place in the Metropolitan Division.
“We’ve all been in games where we’re losing, I don’t think just because we’re losing in a game doesn’t mean we’ve lost the game,” said K’Andre Miller, who returned to the lineup after a six-game absence on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. “That’s something this group maybe has lost a little bit. That pushback. I liked our game, I liked what we did overall. I think it’s just, we can bring a little bit more.”
Strengths have become weaknesses, while weaknesses have been exploited to the fullest.
Brayden Point scores on Igor Shesterkin for the first of his two goals in the Rangers’ loss to the Lightning.
The Rangers have now given up five or more goals 11 times through just 35 games.
Their power play, once one of the most feared in the NHL, gave up two shorthanded goals as they fell to an astonishing 0-for-20 in the last seven games.
Mika Zibanejad has veered so far from what once made him a top center in the NHL.
His mindset and demeanor seemingly weigh down his game like a sack of coal night after night.
A lunging Will Borgen tries to steal the puck from Nikita Kucherov during the Rangers’ loss to the Lightning.
Fanning on a one-timer on the power play in the middle frame, Zibanejad’s miss allowed the puck to deflect off his skate and spring the Lightning for a 2-on-1 rush that Anthony Cirreli buried for the 4-1 lead.
The only time the Rangers truly responded was in the first period, when Artemi Panarin evened the score at one-all after Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring with a power-play goal less than three minutes into the game.
Their issues with defending the rush, however, continue to cripple the Blueshirts at every turn.
During their first power play of the game, Chris Kreider — skating in his first game back since serving as a healthy scratch — got caught too low in the offensive zone to spring Ryan McDonagh for a 3-on-1 rush the other way.
The former Rangers captain took it himself, wristing it just under the armpit of Shesterkin for the shorthanded score and 2-1 lead.
“We don’t score on our power play, we let in two goals, we put ourselves in a bad spot,” Zibanejad said. “I don’t think that’s the effort. I don’t think that’s the team itself or how we came out, how we started. I don’t think that’s why we lose a game. We had [44] shots, we’ve got to get in front of a few more and get some quality chances, but I thought we did. It’s frustrating.”
