One of my followers tweeted that the Lightning were our kryptonite. They’re right. At this point, I don’t want to see the Rangers play them again until next Spring. That’s assuming they get there. I’m not ready to jump off the bridge as many fans did following a 6-3 loss to Tampa. It’s become trendy to bash Henrik Lundqvist when he comes up small. He’s now allowed 14 goals in 9 periods to the Lightning. They had no trouble winning despite Steven Stamkos and Ryan Callahan getting nothing.

Bottom line. The Rangers melted down. For a second straight game, they were competitive. Dumb mistakes cost them. They beat themselves. Not to discredit Tampa. They are very good. Right now, they’re a better and more complete team. Despite getting outplayed during the first half and outshot 22-9, they were resilient scoring four unanswered to silence MSG.

It was a microcosm of the first two months. Undisciplined play plagued them. Those still upset over the penalty called on Marty St. Louis, get over it. He reached in with his stick and took a bad offensive zone minor which led directly to mega monster Brett Connolly beating Lundqvist for the second time. One of two he should’ve had. Faulting him is mindless. He wasn’t good enough. Ben Bishop again outplayed him improving to 8-0-0 against the Rangers. He yielded three for a second consecutive week but made key stops when his team needed it. Bishop made 32 saves compared to Lundqvist’s 15. Five goals allowed on 20 shots. Ugly stat line.

This isn’t about the goalie. It’s more to do with how this team plays. They are careless. From the mind numbing penalties Mats Zuccarello and Chris Kreider take to the lack of consistency in the defensive zone 5-on-5. The attention to detail is atrocious against fast skilled and scrappy opponents. The execution is off. We even saw it twice against the Maple Leafs. Cam Talbot was in for the disaster at Air Canada Centre. For whatever reason, they are inconsistent. From the forwards not coming back to the D making mistakes, this is what you get.

The turning point came when they successfully killed a Tampa 5-on-3. Kevin Hayes and Ryan McDonagh took penalties 40 seconds apart. But the Rangers did an outstanding job. The trio of Marc Staal, Dan Girardi and Dominic Moore got into passing lanes and allowed only one shot. Lundqvist then made a big stop on a Stamkos laser. However, Moore’s laziness cost them. Instead of icing the puck with the team back at even strength, he waited too long. Then McDonagh failed to clear the zone. Eventually, Tyler Johnson fed an open Matt Carle for the tying goal short side. It was clearly one Lundqvist had to have. He just couldn’t bail them out.

After that goal, I looked at my Dad and told him ‘Not again.’ Simply put, I knew what was coming. In a lopsided second period that saw the Rangers get two on Bishop and outshoot the Bolts 12-5, it was only tied. The Lightning were brutal up to that point but they made the most of their opportunities. You had to figure they’d play one good period. They made our flat team pay dearly.

Twice, Rangers took bad penalties. The first was Zuccarello. The second was St. Louis. Even if you disagreed, what about the phantom call on Stamkos in the first? Only difference is our team didn’t score despite some good looks. Overall, they were 1-for-3 with St. Louis finishing off his 10th from McDonagh and Stepan that put them ahead 3-2. Unfortunately, Carle’s goal and St. Louis’ slashing minor turned the game. Then Connolly, who earlier abused Marc Staal- had no problem beating Lundqvist from way out. The former first round pick doubled his season total from 2 to 4.

Kevin Klein’s turnover on the next shift resulted in Johnson taking a perfect Nikita Kucherov feed and roofing one to increase the Bolts’ lead to 5-3. That was it. There was no comeback because this team isn’t resilient. They had some looks but at the end of the day, Bishop did his job. That isn’t a criticism on Lundqvist, who knows he must be better. It’s more an indictment on how the team played. They are reckless. What you get is inconsistency.

Even in a game where Derick Brassard was splendid making an unbelievable fake before threading the needle for Jesper Fast’s goal (second straight), it wasn’t enough. The third line of Hayes, Hagelin and Lee Stempniak were their best. They dominated even strength shifts and combined on the Rangers’ second goal. A tremendous defensive play by Stempniak in the neutral zone allowed Hagelin to use his blinding speed and go around the net before setting up Hayes for a sweet finish. The way they played, keep them together.

The fourth line was caught for two goals against. By that, I mean Moore and Miller. Fast wasn’t on for either. One came during a line change and the other following that awful turnover by Moore which allowed Carle to tie it. It’s hard to get on Miller because he hardly played. They got victimized on Johnson’s first. Boy is he good. His first was pure luck with a Victor Hedman shot deflecting off Ondrej Palat’s stick right to him for the finish. The Rangers had no answer for Johnson. His speed and skill killed them.

Through 24 games, the Rangers are 11-9-4 sitting third in the Metropolitan Division. Their failure to play smart hockey has them where they are. A cut below the best teams. The losses of Anton Stralman and Brian Boyle are felt. You don’t easily replace their defensive acumen. Even Benoit Pouliot was a diligent backchecker despite his penchant for bad penalties. At this point, the team is incomplete. Even with McDonagh, it made no difference. Too many players forgot to play in their end. Four of the Bolts’ 6 goals came at even strength. One look at the plus/minuses is enough to puke.

It doesn’t get any easier. They visit the Red Wings Saturday. That’s plenty of time for the coaching staff to have some hard practices and make adjustments. If they fail to, it could get ugly.

BONY 3 Stars:

3rd Star-Victor Hedman, Bolts (3 assists, +3 in 26 shifts-24:42-outplayed McDonagh)

2nd Star-Brett Connolly, Bolts (2 goals incl. game-winner, 1 penalty drawn, +1 in 12:27)

1st Star-Tyler Johnson, Bolts (2 goals, assist, 8 shot attempts, +4 in 16:45)