COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the old adage goes, you’re never as good as when you’re on a winning streak and never as bad as when you’re on a losing streak. But that poor stretch to begin the season has cut down on the Rangers’ margin for error.
They have to make sure this mini-skid doesn’t mushroom into anything more, and they will get the chance to do so at home, where five of their next six games will be played.
“We haven’t had a good start, so every game right now is important,” Mats Zuccarello said, with a deep sigh, following Friday night’s 2-0 loss to the Blue Jackets in Columbus. “[We need] every win.”
There wasn’t panic or concern in the Nationwide Arena visitors’ locker room after the defeat. There was the understanding, though, from the Rangers that they need to be better to avoid taking a step back to their early-season struggles. Particularly in a few areas — most notably the power play and the forecheck — that contributed significantly to the Rangers’ second straight setback.
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Special teams doomed the Blueshirts (9-9-2, 20 points) Friday night. They whiffed on three chances a man up and allowed a goal on the power play when Kevin Hayes failed to clear the puck, which Rangers coach Alain Vigneault described as a “bad mistake.” It turned a one-goal deficit to two with 12:46 remaining in the third period, and the way Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky was performing, effectively ended the game.
The power play, a Rangers strength thus far, has now gone 0-for-6 in the past two games, though it remains one of the best in the league, third in the sport with 17 tallies in 72 opportunities. It was, however, impotent on Friday, producing just two shots on goal in the three opportunities.
“Our power play didn’t execute,” Vigneault said. “We’ll get back to work and get back at it.”
The lack of an effective forecheck was glaring, too, allowing Columbus to control play, its defensemen to join the attack without facing much pressure themselves. It showed in the Rangers’ feeble attack that while it produced 36 shots, there were very few strong scoring chances. Vigneault juggled the lines in the third period, but it didn’t have much of an effect.
“It’s a game when the other team makes a mistake, you’ve got to make them pay for it, and when you don’t score any goals, you didn’t make them pay,” Vigneault said.
The defense didn’t help matters, either, struggling to get the puck out of the Rangers’ end, not to mention some missed assignments. There was too much time in the Blueshirts’ zone by the Blue Jackets, and that was coming off Wednesday’s poor finish in Chicago, when the Blackhawks scored five times in the third period of a 6-3 victory.
“Certainly, I think we’ve got to play a little bit quicker, getting the puck out quicker, anticipating our next play, and that will help us not get stuck in our own end,” captain Ryan McDonagh said.
Before the loss in Columbus, Vigneault said he felt his team had turned a corner, pointing to the previous 10 games, seven of them victories. He singled out special teams and his blue-liners as the difference. But now there are two consecutive setbacks, and slippage in those areas.