ST. LEWIS — It's easy to point to the uncertainty surrounding lineups these days, but the Rangers know it should be inward.
The Blueshirts may have lost their No. 1 center minutes before the puck dropped.
They may already be sitting on two AHL call-ups due to increased injuries.
But the Rangers lost 5-2 against the Blues at Enterprise Center on Thursday night with an uninspired, empty net assist, suffering the same problems that have plagued them for the past month or so, a first for the club. It was a defeat. Three consecutive losses throughout the season.
Rangers have fallen off in recent weeks, losing six of their last 10 games, but the rest of the Metropolitan Division have closed the gap they once had.
Between that loss and the Hurricanes' win over the Ducks on Thursday night, their lead over the Rangers in the divisional standings had shrunk to just three points.
Making the cushion was easy, but maintaining it was always a challenge.
The Rangers' decline has been steady and relatively consistent.
Odd-man rushes and other rushing opportunities have repeatedly set the Rangers on fire, and the Rangers have been wasting scoring chances due to their high number of runs conceded.
Mika Zibanejad was injured late in the game with the same illness that caused him to miss Wednesday's practice, forcing the Rangers to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen at the last minute.
Rangers took the lead through Adam Fox's goal and moved ahead of the Blues for the starting spot, despite a line-up already in disarray following their recent losing streak.
However, St. Louis got three goals from Jordan Caillou, and two of the four goals came off the rush for the win.
Rangers were unable to counter the Blues' attack and lost the lead early on because of it.
After the Blues capitalized on end-to-end play, St. Louis went for a zone rush on the power play in the first period.
The Blues' power play, which ranks last in the NHL, scored two goals in their 21st win of the season.
This game would not have been possible had the Rangers not taken three penalties in a 5:03 span of the second period.
The odds were in the Blues' favor at that point and they took advantage of the opportunity.
The Blues forward caught a centering pass and Brandon Saad scored St. Louis' second goal on the man advantage to take a 3-1 lead.
Hats rained down on the ice at Enterprise Center after Caillou beat Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin on a breakaway just over seven minutes into the third period.
Blues fans jumped when the puck passed under Shesterkin's stagnant glove.
Shesterkin made his 26th start this season and the 14th time this season he allowed three or more runs.
The Rangers lost the special teams battle despite Vincent Trocheck's 4-2 score at the 10:58 mark of the final frame.
Alexis Lafreniere replaced Zibanejad on the first power-play unit, but was only able to capitalize on one of three man-advantage opportunities.
The cushion Rangers had in the standings has thinned.
Slow goes fast in the NHL.
The clock is ticking until the Rangers get back on track.
