It’s been the same story for the Rangers every single game this month.
The two points up for grabs are a must. Wins over teams ahead of them in the Eastern Conference wild-card race are a must. Damage control of the previous two months has been in full effect.
And yet, despite playing much better hockey through 14 games this month, the Blueshirts haven’t had that element of desperation when they’ve needed it most on their way to two big losses — the latest a 4-0 defeat at the hands of the Hurricanes on Tuesday night — against two notable teams.
This all while the clubs around them in the playoff push continue to pick up points. That’s what has made the Rangers situation so precarious despite their uptick in play lately.
Carolina scored 56 seconds into this Metropolitan Division showdown at Madison Square Garden. They scored again with 31 seconds left in the second period.
The Rangers’ previous game against the Avalanche saw Colorado net the game winner with 14.7 seconds left in regulation to break a 4-4 tie.
Those are the moments that require diligence and urgency, and the Rangers have come out on the wrong end of them one too many times during this critical stretch. Every time the Rangers miss out on two points it’s been costly, but it could be even more so in the long run.
Andrei Svechnikov led the Canes with a three-point effort, scoring the team’s first two goals of the evening.
- CHECK OUT THE LATEST NHL STANDINGS AND RANGERS STATS
The Rangers haven’t folded at a multi-goal deficit in some time, but they did Tuesday. Sebastian Aho scored just over a minute into the third period before Seth Jarvis made it a 4-0 game 1:26 later.
Opportunities were there for the Rangers to keep the score close, but poor execution and poor puck decisions led to the team’s third shutout loss of the season.
When Jarvis was called for interference at the 9:42 mark of the middle frame, Chris Kreider lost the puck as he tried to corral it in from the side of the net before Canes goalie Frederik Andersen toed it away.
The Rangers power play ultimately went 0-for-3 on the night.
And when they generated a shorthanded breakaway later in the period, Vincent Trocheck opted to pass it back instead of shooting it. The odd-man rush fell apart, and the Canes pushed the other way before Svechnikov scored his second of the game.
The lower bowl of the Garden half cleared out by the third period. The boos started raining down shortly after.
The home team simply wasn’t ready for the Canes once the puck dropped, a puzzling trend this season that has popped up both before and after their season-jeopardizing 4-15 stretch.
Svechnikov opened the scoring just 56 seconds into the game, when the Carolina forward ripped one past Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin (22 saves) from between the circles.
It counted as the fifth time this season, and first since Nov. 19 in Vancouver, they’ve allowed a goal within the first minute of game, as well as the ninth time they’ve given one up in the first two minutes.