TAMPA, Fla. — The Rangers went into the break limping and came out of the break with their faces stuffed.
Peter Laviolette said there's only one direction his team can go in at this point, but the 6-2 loss the Blueshirts suffered at the hands of the Lightning on Saturday night at Amalie Arena wasn't one of them. said.
The Rangers' head coach also said he has seen his team's suspension happen in one form or another.
There are early signs that the current President's Trophy winner may actually find out more after this. Rangers star goaltender Igor Shesterkin was sent off for the second time in his last five starts on Saturday night, and their season continues to spiral toward complete ruin.
There was talk about the psychological benefits of a three-day vacation.
A declaration of intent and how to turn the season around.
After all, that's all there is to talk about.
The Rangers may have gotten off to a strong start, but their motor battery life has worn out quickly this season.
Given the fact that we've reached a minefield part of the schedule where all but one of the next eight games are against teams in the playoffs, Rangers won't be able to survive any club without giving it their all for 60 minutes. Probably.
It's been quite some time since the Rangers last put together three periods of pride.
They have lost eight of their last 10 games and 14 of their last 18, dropping them further down the NHL standings. The Islanders had a chance to leapfrog the Rangers with a win over the Penguins on Saturday night. This leaves the crosstown rivals in control of the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.
Strengths have become weaknesses and weaknesses have been exploited to the fullest.
Mental mistakes are always costly and end up in the back of Rangers' goal time and time again.
In just 35 games, he allowed five or more goals 11 times.
The Rangers' power play, once the most feared in the NHL, has dipped to an astonishing 0-for-20 over the past seven games, allowing two short-handed goals.
Mika Zibanejad has fallen far short of the position that once made him a top center in the NHL. His mindset and attitude seem to weigh on his game like a sack of coal every night.
A power play in the center frame sparked a one-timer, Zibanejad's error deflected the puck off his skate, and the Lightning bounced out on a 2-on-1 rush, but Anthony Cirelli buried it for a 4-1 lead. Ta.
The only time the Rangers really fought back was in the first period, when Nikita Kucherov took the lead with a power-play goal less than three minutes into the game before Artemi Panarin tied it at one-all.
But their issues with rushing defense continue to paralyze the Blueshirts at every turn.
During the first power play of the game, Chris Kreider, skating in his first game back since serving as a healthy scratch, was caught too low in the offensive zone and bounced off Ryan McDonagh to get the opposite ball. They set up a 3-on-1 rush.
The former Rangers captain took it himself, put his wrist under Shesterkin's armpit, and scored shorthanded for a 2-1 lead.
McDonagh last scored shorthanded in the 2016-17 season, his second-to-last time with the Rangers.
