Rangers lead early but eventually suffer defeat to the Devils

New Jersey walked into Madison Square Garden and walked away with another win. They have won 16 of their last 17 and they really showed the Rangers that the Blueshirts are not even in the same conversation as a true contender, forget the same level. New York just got decimated at even strength in this one by the best statistical even strength team in the league. This is a defeat that is understandable, but still not ideal.

Artemi Panarin finally managed to break his hex as he got the first goal of this game. He put the puck in the net against the Oilers but had it ruled out through review. He managed to get himself onto the score sheet tonight in the losing effort. It’s one of the positives to take out of this defeat. This game could have been so much better but you have to take what you can get sometimes in this league.

New York shot out to a 2-0 lead against the New Jersey Devils, but the Rangers couldn’t hold it as they gave up the next four to find themselves trailing 4-2 in the third period. That is when the powerplay would come up big to give the Rangers a prayer with just under 7 minutes left. This was a goal that helped the Rangers ease the pressure building on a powerplay that was not producing.

For the Rangers, they are now officially in trouble. This is loss number 3 in a row. They are 4-5-1 in their last 10 games. Already one spot out of the playoff places, they have played two more games than Florida and Montreal behind and they have only one point more. They are in a difficult situation if the Rangers truly want to compete for the Stanley Cup. I’m not sure what the Rangers need to do, but this is a big step backward so far this season.

Without Ryan Lindgren, this blueline does not look capable of shutting down the best other teams have to offer at 5 on 5. There will be games when the Rangers are not able to handle the best the league has to throw at them without him. Whether that is corrected by a change of coach or personnel is unclear. It’s important not to overreact to a game like this, it was a good showing against one of the best teams in the league, but it really highlights the Rangers’ issues.