Rangers come out of holiday break flat and suffer ugly loss to Lightning
TAMPA, Fla. — After limping into the holiday break, the Rangers face-planted coming out of it.
Peter Laviolette talked about how there was only one direction his team could go 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.
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 past five starts Saturday night.
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.
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 past 10 games, as well as 14 of their past 18 to sink further in the NHL standings. The Islanders had a chance to leapfrog the Rangers with a win over the Penguins on Saturday night, which would give their crosstown rivals sole possession of last place in the Metropolitan Division.
Strengths have become weaknesses, while weaknesses have been exploited to the fullest.
Mental mistakes are always costly, repeatedly ending up in the back of the Rangers net.
They have now given up five or more goals 11 times through just 35 games.
The Rangers 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 past 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.
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.
The last time McDonagh scored a shorthanded goal was the 2016-17 season, his second-to-last with the Rangers.
