On Monday night, the New York Rangers fell apart in a 6-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 20. A promising start that saw them grab a two-goal lead halfway through the contest completely turned around. It was their first regulation defeat since Oct. 19. That ended an 11-game point streak.

After playing a good first period by getting a Vincent Trocheck power-play goal and outshooting the Stars 16-7, the Rangers got some pushback from their opponent. Although they fell behind 2-0 on Kaapo Kakko’s first goal since Oct. 21, the Stars were more aggressive on the forecheck. They created scoring chances to force Igor Shesterkin into some tough saves in the second period.

Following Kakko having his centering pass bank in off a Dallas player to put the Rangers ahead by two, some sloppiness allowed Stars’ captain Jamie Benn to finish off a nice passing play between Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski to cut the deficit to one less than a minute later.

Braden Schneider passed across for Jimmy Vesey, who forced a back pass that resulted in a turnover inside the Stars’ blue line. That allowed the Stars to quickly go in transition on an odd man rush with only Zac Jones back. Hintz and Pavelski combined to set up Benn for an easy finish with 5:37 remaining in the second period.

Although they still held a one-goal lead into the locker room, the Rangers weren’t as sharp. They allowed the Stars to push the pace and force turnovers. Their style caused issues for the Rangers, who wilted in a brutal third period. They were outscored 5-1 and out-shot 19-10.

Shesterkin Allows a Pair of Bad Goals

Following a Pavelski goal on a rebound of a Miro Heiskanen that tied the game 61 seconds into the third period, Barclay Goodrow took an ill-advised high-sticking minor on Stars’ forward Mason Marchment. The lack of discipline by Goodrow proved costly.

With the Stars on the power play, Marchment got to a juicy rebound of a Wyatt Johnston shot and poked the loose puck past Shesterkin at 7:06 to put the Rangers behind for the first time. Initially, refs Ghislain Hebert and Kevin Pollock waved off the goal, citing illegal contact with Shesterkin.

However, the replays clearly showed that Shesterkin didn’t have control of the puck. That allowed Marchment to put in the rebound. Once the video review confirmed it, the call was changed to a good goal. It was a shot Shesterkin should’ve had for a whistle. Instead, the Stars went ahead 3-2.

Shesterkin’s issues continued over a minute later. On another Stars’ rush, Marchment drove to the Rangers’ net and got a backhand on Shesterkin that he couldn’t control. Tyler Seguin got a piece of the rebound and pushed it towards the net. With the loose puck sitting there, it looked like Shesterkin put it into his own net. Regardless, that unassisted goal made it four straight goals for the Stars.

For some reason, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette decided to challenge for goaltender interference on the play. There was no contact from any Dallas player that would’ve overturned the call. Chalk it up to a bad challenge, which put the Stars back on the power play. At least the Rangers killed off the delay of game bench minor.

Missed Chances Seal Fate

Still trailing by two, the Rangers had a couple of opportunities to make it interesting. They had two consecutive power plays with less than eight minutes left in regulation. Those missed chances sealed their fate.

The first power play was drawn by Kakko, who kept moving his feet until the Stars’ Evgenii Dadonov grabbed him. But the Rangers’ top unit was unable to capitalize. In fact, they kept missing the net. The closest they came was an Artemi Panarin pass for a Chris Kreider tip-in that just missed. Both Mika Zibanejad and Panarin fired high and wide.

Alexis Lafreniere drew a tripping minor on Johnston with 4:06 remaining. After the TV timeout, Laviolette went for it by pulling Shesterkin for an extra skater to make it a six-on-four. But another Panarin blank missed the mark. Following a Lafreniere miss, Erik Gustafsson gave away the puck to Sam Steel, who scored into the open net for a shorthanded goal with 3:30 left.

The Stars would add another empty netter from Hintz to make it 6-2. With time winding down, Goodrow got his first of the season from Schneider and Jacob Trouba.

Zibanejad Struggles Continue

If there’s one concern, it’s been the play of Zibanejad. Despite a strong start that has the Rangers in first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 12-3-1 record, Zibanejad’s struggles continue.

A reliable two-way center who the Rangers lean on to play in any situation, Zibanejad hasn’t been able to get going this season. The 30-year-old from Stockholm isn’t a stranger to slow starts. A streaky player who’s capable of getting hot, the puck hasn’t gone in much for Zibanejad.

In 16 games, he has only two goals with eight assists for 10 points. His last goal came on Oct. 30 against the Winnipeg Jets. In fact, Zibanejad’s only two goals came in consecutive games highlighted by a three-point outing in an overtime win over the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 28.

Since the end of October, Zibanejad has only one assist in November. He’s without a point over the last four games. Making matters worse is his inability to hit the net. Too many of his shots are going high and wide. With him unable to score, there have been some wide open chances that he’s passed on. Case in point, Panarin made a good pass for him near the end of a power play. Rather than shoot, he made a low percentage pass back to Panarin, which led to a turnover.

At this point in the season, Zibanejad has only three points at five-on-five. His issues haven’t helped Kreider, who’s still tied with Panarin for the team lead in goals with 10. At least Kreider has six of his 15 points at five-on-five. At some point, the Rangers will need Zibanejad to snap out of it. He’s too good a player for this to continue.

Laviolette Tweaks Lines

Due to the Rangers’ poor showing in the third period against the Stars, Lavolette made some tweaks to the lines. He tried Panarin and Lafreniere up with Zibanejad for a shift. Kakko was also moved up to the first line for a shift.

With Laviolette mixing and matching, there were some different combinations over the final part of Monday’s game. It might’ve just been due to how poorly they played.

A Tough Night for Jones

It wasn’t a good game for Jones. A player who’s shown some positives during the Rangers’ recent play, However, he had a tough night against the Stars.

Jones was caught on for three goals against to finish minus-three in 13:22 of ice time. On the Stars’ first goal, he was left by himself due to both Schneider and Vesey making bad reads. That allowed Pavelski to pass across for an easy Benn goal.

On the Pavelski goal that tied the game, both Jones and Schneider were out of position in front. Jones was unable to take Pavelski on the Stars’ goal.

With the Rangers trailing 4-2, Marchment was allowed a free drive to the net by both Schneider and Jones. After a scramble in front, both were late on the Seguin tally that put the game away.

Adam Fox Skating

More encouraging news is that Adam Fox is skating. The Rangers’ top defenseman hasn’t played since going down with an injury on Nov. 3 versus the Carolina Hurricanes. He’s skated the past two days.

Even better, Fox is traveling with the team on the road trip. The Rangers visit the Pittsburgh Penguins on Nov. 22 before Thanksgiving. It’ll be another good test. They’ll visit the Flyers on Nov. 24 before returning home to host the Boston Bruins on Nov. 25.