Mikhail Grabovski rips a slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist to convert a penalty shot.
AP Photo/John Minchillo

How many have attended games on their birthday? The first one was a nice present from the Rangers on Dec. 8, 1995 when Brian Leetch set up Pat Verbeek for an overtime winner on the power play over the Red Wings. That memory still holds a special place in my heart. Tonight, not so much. At least I got to meet Anson Carter and Al Trautwig. A day after losing to the Devils in OT, the Rangers embarrassed themselves in a listless 4-1 loss to the Capitals at MSG.

”It’s one of those things. It’s not going to come from anyone else except from the 22 guys in here,” slumping center Derek Stepan said. ”We have to find a way to grab it. Forget about what happened in the first (number) of games.

”It doesn’t matter if you were playing well, playing bad. It doesn’t matter. We have to start playing as a group.”

It was every bit as bad as the score indicated. Uncompetitive against a team they previously owned, the Rangers played passionless hockey on the Garden ice. This was a disgrace. If you thought losing last night was bad, you were sadly mistaking. I don’t have the words other than to express how disappointing the 2013-14 Blueshirts are shaping up to be. How else can you explain 15-15-1? Even with Henrik Lundqvist standing on his head in a lifeless first period where his team allowed repeated odd-man rushes, they didn’t respond. Despite being even in shots (7-7), Lundqvist made four big stops keeping it scoreless.

What transpired in the second was humbling. The Caps scored twice in a 25-second span breaking open a scoreless game. First, it was the shift from Hell for John Moore. In light of Mike Del Zotto’s struggles and Marc Staal probably missing the game due to a suspected concussion, Moore has gotten a free pass. He has been brutal. Already having trouble staying on his feet (he fell during the first), Moore suffered more hiccups leading directly to Ranger killer Jason Chimera depositing a Martin Erat rebound with Lundqvist helpless. It was like watching a Chinese fire drill. Almost reminding me of something out of the pre-lockout teams that couldn’t get out of their own way. If that wasn’t bad enough, Cap immortal Steve Olesky scored what else but his first from Jay Beagle past an unscreened Lundqvist. I have no clue what he was doing. He never moved. That was a crusher.

”We felt them deflate a little bit,” Oleksy disturbingly said.

You don’t expect our goalie to continue allowing such weak goals. He’s always been so reliable. The backbone of the team. If he gives in due to the team’s soft defense and vanilla custard checking, they’re in for a long year. It doesn’t look like Staal will be back anytime soon. That means Alain Vigneault must play Del Zotto more along with Justin Falk and Moore. Unless the organization feels Dylan McIlrath is ready for a recall, there’s zero toughness. Not even Ryan McDonagh plays with enough edge. The impact of Mike Sauer is still being felt. Like it or not, he was much more important to the team’s chances.

The Rangers were outscored 3-0 and outshot 17-10 in a dismal second. The whole period was a blur. While I was celebrating my birthday and reuniting with some of our close friends, the Blueshirts did zilch. Oh. They may have been credited with 10 shots on Philipp Grubauer. But I can’t remember the rookie having to make a single big save. Meanwhile, the Caps continued an all out assault on Lundqvist. That included a bogus Mikhail Grabovski successful penalty shot that made it 3-0 at 18:26. I still have no idea how they awarded him one. On the heels of some missed calls Saturday, it made no sense. I didn’t even realize it was a penalty shot until I was in the restroom and heard the crowd chanting, “Hen-rik, Hen-rik!” At that point, I knew he would score and that was confirmed by the collective groans. Apparently, he froze him with a rare slap shot top shelf. In no shape or form am I pinning this on Lundqvist. But you expect him to stop that.

When they weren’t skating circles around our team, the Caps bullied a punchless Rangers, who didn’t defend Rick Nash when Alex Ovechkin mixed it up with him during a scrum. Now Nash is a big boy and can fight his own battles. But you can’t risk him getting punched in the head. Without Brandon Prust and to a lesser extent Brandon Dubinsky, this team has lost its identity. Nobody comes to the aid of a teammate. It’s about as vanilla a roster as you can get. Congrats Glen Sather. You’ve outdone yourself.

I spent the third talking to an incensed MSG security guard and someone else about how bad things have gotten. While that took place, Nate Schmidt made it 4-0. As I was filing out with someone else celebrating a recent birthday, Benoit Pouliot scored his third from Del Zotto to break Grubauer’s shutout. Of course, he earned his first win with 31 saves. There are still seven games left on a nine-game homestand. But the clock is ticking. Frustration is boiling over. After the game, the Rangers held a players-only meeting.

“You can talk all you want behind closed doors,” Vigneault fumed. “It’s the 200 by 85 that games are decided.” He might be tame by comparison to John Tortorella but his postgame was terse and about as angry as I’ve heard him. He still believes the roster is much better than this. It just hasn’t performed adequately.

“The crowd had nothing to stand for tonight,” McDonagh said. “And that’s something we’re ashamed of.”

“It’s getting old,” a frustrated Brad Richards added after being one of the few skaters who gave a max effort. J.T. Miller being one of the few exceptions.

”We need to grasp it here, need to play with some desperation,” Stepan pointed out. ”That’s the biggest key right now. Points are points right now. You have to win your hockey games.”

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Nate Schmidt, Caps (goal-2nd of season, 4 SOG +3 in 15:13)

2nd Star-Mikhail Grabovski, Caps (penalty shot goal, 4 SOG, 8 for 13 on faceoffs, +2 in 18:07)

1st Star-Steve Olesky, Caps (goal, assist, 3 blocked shots, +2 in 16:57)