The afternoon started in thunderous applause and ended in boos as the Rangers suffered a brutal 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes.
Going into this game, the Rangers were riding high after an emotional 3-1 over the Dallas Stars.
The Rangers picked up right where they left off with a goal from Jimmy Vesey less than 20 seconds into the contest.
Through the first period, the Blueshirts displayed a valiant effort and played like a rejuvenated team.
However, in the second period, everything changed. The Rangers began to implode defensively and Carolina took full advantage of their blunders, scoring two unanswered goals.
“We didn’t get the puck to the next level in the second period,” Peter Laviolette said. “I thought the battles went their way. The second they were better than us… We lost the second period 2-0, that will take the juice out of it.”
The power play has been a major problem for the Rangers. New York went 0-for-4 in Sunday afternoon’s game and have gone 0-for-12 in their last five games.
Peter Laviolette even tried switching things up, beginning a power play in the third period with his second unit and Adam Fox, but nothing seemed to work.
“Tonight I thought was execution,” Laviolette said. “They force really hard inside their penalty kill. I actually thought the second unit had a couple really good looks, backdoor looks. But I don’t think we executed well enough and I think some of that has to do with that pressure.”
New York got became increasingly demoralized over the course of this game, which showed in their poor body language and lack of urgency.
The Rangers have a quick turnaround with their next matchup set for Monday afternoon against the New Jersey Devils.
