By New Year’s Eve, the Rangers had lost 15 of 19, as well as their last four games.
They’d fallen into last place in the Metropolitan Division, and only the Sabres were below them in the Eastern Conference.
At that point, a playoff berth seemed far fetched — at best — with the Rangers seven points out of the second wild-card spot in the East, with seven teams to pass to get there.
But just over three weeks later, the Rangers look like a different team — one that barely loses.
Thursday night’s lopsided win over Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden extended the team’s point streak to 10 games, the longest such stretch in nearly a year.
Since Jan. 2, the Rangers have a league-high 19 points and have scored 43 goals, also tops in the NHL.
And they’re coming off consecutive victories over teams also in the wild-card chase, during which they outscored their opponents 11-1.
It’s left them just out of a playoff spot heading into Friday’s games, as they trailed Tampa Bay and Columbus by one point each.
So a season that seemed all but lost less than a month ago is back on, with the Rangers finally playing up to their standards.
Still, despite the turnaround, the players insist they didn’t waver.
“Of course it’s nice,’’ Filip Chytil said of the recent run of success. “But even in the tough moments, which we had, we didn’t lose our heads. We know the team we have, and we didn’t forget how to play hockey in a couple months. Sometimes you have stretches like that in a season. It’s about how a team responds. And the last month, we’ve responded in a good way. That’s why we’re winning these hard games.”
Their defense certainly has gotten better.
After allowing five or more goals in five of seven games from Dec. 23 to Jan. 7, the Rangers have done so just once in their past eight matches.
Asked why they’ve improved, K’Andre Miller said, “I don’t think there was any specific thing that changed. Once we came back from the [Christmas] break, everybody looked in the mirror and realized they could give a little bit more.”
And the Rangers continue to get production from all four lines.
Adam Edstrom scored with the fourth line Thursday, but like the rest of his teammates, Edstrom said the key has been physicality.
“We’re coming out there with a defensive mindset,” Edstrom said. “We’re playing for each other in a whole different way and standing up for each other.’’
The results have followed, but as Chytil added, “There’s a lot of work ahead of us.”
That begins Sunday when the Rangers host Colorado at MSG.
The Avalanche are firmly atop the wild-card standings in the Western Conference, but the Rangers played them tight in their last matchup in Denver on Jan. 14, a 3-2 loss in overtime.
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The Rangers won’t play a team outside the playoff picture until they host Pittsburgh on Feb. 7, so they can’t afford another slip in performance.
And they don’t expect one.
“I think everybody in this room knew what we’re capable of and how good a team we are,’’ Miller said. “It was a matter of just believing. The last couple games, we’ve shown a lot of good things and how good a team we can be when we’re on like we’ve been the last couple weeks.”