3 takeaways from Rangers 4-1 loss against Tampa Bay Lightning

If the 4-0 shutout loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday afternoon didn’t seal their fate, a 5-1 loss to the playoff-bound Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday night at Madison Square Garden all but put a nail in the coffin on a New York Rangers' season that was a roller coaster of ups and downs.

Let's breakdown exactly how the Rangers got their latest loss with three key takeaways from the matchup.

1. Peter Laviolette in the Hot Seat

Following the game Head Coach Peter Laviolette was asked about his message for the team. Shockingly, Laviolette admitted that he doesn't address his team post-game and that, in fact, he doesn't even enter the team's dressing room.

"I don’t have a message right now. I don’t go into the locker room after the game," Laviolette said.

Many fans are taking to social media with an intense desire to fire the coach as a result of his inability to enter his own team's locker room after the game. And Laviolette's on-ice decisions aren't helping him either. He's made no changes to a power play that is one of the worst in the League, he’s buried his young talent in the bottom six of the lineup and time and time again he’s reverted back to old line combinations that clearly have not much of a future. If he’s looking to keep his job next season, he hasn’t done himself any favors after another four-goal differential loss.

2. The Death of the Penalty Kill

The Rangers failed miserably on their penalty kill Monday, allowing their opponent to score three power-play goals for the first time this season. It was the ninth time the Rangers gave up more than one power-play goal, and the second time in the most recent six games.

The penalty kill failures were so bad it greatly overshadowed the positives of the night in Mika Zibanejad's goal off a redirect and Matt Rempe having a 10:07 TOI in his return to the ice following his previous week-to-week status with an undisclosed upper-body injury.

3. Winning Out is a Must

Now, here's where the Blueshirts stand mathematically. The Rangers remain six points out of the second Wild Card in the Eastern Conference, trailing the Montreal Canadiens, and they’re down to five games left on the schedule.

It'a mathematically possible they make the playoffs if the win out — but one more loss and the Rangers' season is basically shot.

"We needed to win a game tonight. We didn't win. There's been a lot of that through the course of the year."

Head Coach Peter Laviolette, postgame

"It's terrible ... If we keep playing like that, we’re going to miss the playoffs."

Artemi Panarin, postgame

"I think we just got to win out now. It's no longer a waiting it out kind of thing where we win a game and we're waiting to see what they do. We need to win out and then we need help, too. It sucks to be in this position. None of us wanted to be in it, but it's definitely — It sucks."

Jonny Brodzinski, postgame