The Rangers coughed up a late lead to the Islanders at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, but Gerard Gallant, never shy to call out his team whenever he sees a lack of effort or execution, praised the Blueshirts' effort after a third straight loss.
"They played well. We deserved the game tonight," Gallant said. "We didn't get it, but we deserved the game tonight. Played well enough. I liked the way we competed, battled hard. Islanders are the best scoring team in the league in the third period, and they found a way to score three goals in the third period. But I liked the way we played most of the game.
"I was happy with our game. I thought we played well, worked hard, and competed. At the end of the day, we lost a tough hockey game. Tough to swallow."
What was toughest for Gallant to swallow was what led to the Islanders' last two goals of the third period, the equalizer coming after Filip Chytil was called for a penalty, and the eventual game winner by Anders Lee coming immediately after Kaapo Kakko was tripped up in the defensive zone, but no penalty was called.
Gallant didn't seem too happy about that after the game.
"I think you saw what happened out there the last two goals," Gallant said. "They weren't mistakes. Did you guys not see it? So I'm not gonna say nothing about it, but you saw the last two goals, and what the situations were."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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