After coughing up a 3-1 lead in the third period on Tuesday night, the Rangers have now dropped three straight games, just weeks after losing four in a row.
This was supposed to be a season of returning to contention for the Blueshirts, who made a surprise run to the Eastern Conference Final behind stellar goaltending from Igor Shesterkin, exciting play from their young core, and 52 goals from Chris Kreider.
Instead, New York currently sits fifth in the Metropolitan Division, Kreider has been demoted in an effort to awaken his offense, and the Rangers are searching for answers.
“It’s a tough start to the season for us,” captain Jacob Trouba said, via Mollie Walker of the New York Post. “We’re going to keep working through it. We’ve got a lot of games left here, but I don’t think it’s lost on anybody the start we’ve had. Time is a tickin’. We don’t have all the time in the world here, but we got to find a way to play a better game.”
Sure, the NHL season isn’t even a month old yet, but with the Islanders and Devils looking like legit bounceback candidates in the Metro this season, along with much improved play from the Flyers, there will be much more competition for the Rangers if they are to pull off a run to get to the top of the conference. So they would like to get things turned around in a hurry.
“Pressing to win hockey games, yeah. I think every team is probably pressing to win games,” Trouba said. “These are games you look back on at the end of the year. They feel more important in April, but these are just as important this time of year.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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