In last night’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, the New York Rangers fell apart in an uncompetitive 5-1 loss at the Fortress on Jan. 18.

If you stayed up late to watch this one, the Rangers started well against the defending champs. They were aggressive on the forecheck, generating some good scoring chances in the first part of the game.

Knights goalie Logan Thompson made a few big saves to keep them off the scoreboard. The best opportunities came from Kaapo Kakko, Alexis Lafreniere, and Vincent Trocheck. First, Kakko got open in front, but his shot hit the side of the net. Then, Thompson made two huge saves to deny Lafreniere and Trocheck of giving the Rangers the lead. That set the tone for the Knights.

Even an early power play drawn by Erik Gustafsson couldn’t aid the cause. Thompson made stops on both Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. He was the story of the first period, making 11 saves to hold the Blueshirts in check.

Defensive breakdown leads to Vegas goal

Shortly after the Golden Knights killed off the Byron Froese hooking penalty that Gustafsson drew, it was the home side that took advantage of a defensive breakdown by the Rangers to grab the lead.

On a play started by Vegas defenseman Nicolas Hague, his pass for Nicolas Roy trapped both Lafreniere and Panarin in the neutral zone. Their passive play allowed Roy and Jonathan Marchessault to work a give and go before Marchessault finished off his 19th goal to give the Knights a 1-0 lead with 8:25 remaining.

K’Andre Miller was the defenseman who got outnumbered on the goal. He’s struggled lately. It hasn’t been a good stretch for him or defensive partner Jacob Trouba, with both caught on for some goals against. While it’s easy to point the finger at Miller for the first Vegas goal, it was a bad decision by both Lafreniere and Panarin in the neutral zone that created the Marchessault tally. Lafreniere was also late coming back on the backcheck.

The forwards must do a better job of reading and reacting to plays. One of the biggest reasons for the Rangers’ mediocre stretch over a month is due to the forwards and defensemen not being on the same page. They’ve lost their structure that coach Peter Laviolette preaches. It was that attention to detail that had them way ahead in the Metropolitan Division. That lead is down to two points after the Flyers defeated the Stars on Thursday night.

Rangers victimized by Barbashev

Despite the good start, the Rangers found themselves behind on the scoreboard. Over three minutes later, they were victimized by Ivan Barbashev. He was able to get behind the defense and have the puck bank off his skate to put the Knights up by two.

It was yet another case of the Rangers not defending the way they should. Following a Miller clear, Marchessault found Roy at the Rangers’ blue line for an easy entry into the zone. Miller allowed Roy to get behind. He then skated around Trouba and centered a pass that a cutting Barbashev redirected in with his skate. He beat Kakko in front on the goal.

The referees got together and initiated a video review to determine if Barbashev kicked the puck in. It didn’t take them long to decide that it was a good goal. Just like that, the Rangers fell behind by two on a pair of Knights’ goals that came 3:13 apart. It went from being a good period to a forgettable one.

Knights Shutdown Rangers’ Offense

The second period was a different story. Facing an opponent that boasts big defensemen, even without Shea Theodore, the Rangers found it challenging to get anything going offensively. The Knights made it difficult on the Rangers’ offense by keeping them to the outside.

With essentially a lot of one and dones, the Rangers were unable to mount enough of an attack to get back in the game. In particular, the top scoring line of Panarin, Trocheck, and Lafreniere were limited by the stingy Knights’ defense. Panarin has done most of the heavy lifting. He had an off night.

Will Cuylle got a good shot right on Thompson from the slot that the goalie handled. Cuylle was a bright spot in the defeat. He took 15 shifts and had two shots and four hits in 11:05 of ice time. Although the puck hasn’t gone in for him recently, Cuylle continues to play a gritty style that’s easy to respect. The Rangers can use more of that element moving forward.

Knights Strike Twice late in Second Period

With seemingly nothing happening, Braden Schneider took an interference minor on Barbashev in front of the Rangers’ net. That put the Golden Knights on the power play. They made Schneider pay.

On what was another glaring example of poor defense, the Rangers allowed an easy power-play goal to fall behind by three. The penalty killers were way too passive. Chandler Stephenson played catch with Mark Stone before he found Barbashev wide open in the slot for an easy one-timer past Igor Shesterkin to make it 3-0.

They weren’t done. With the Rangers apparently napping, the Knights struck twice in only a 25-second span to double the margin. On the next shift following the Barbashev goal, Brett Howden moved the puck up for Kaedan Korczak. He had enough room to take a wrist shot that Keegan Kolesar was able to tip in to make it 4-0 with 1:36 remaining in the second period.

The game was over. The Rangers weren’t coming back from a four goal deficit against the Golden Knights. It was their costly mistakes that put them behind by four after two periods. The same ones have become a common occurrence. These bad habits must be corrected soon. The second half won’t get any easier.

Zibanejad ends Goal drought

On a power play that carried over to the start of the third period, Zibanejad ended his goal drought by scoring his 15th of the season. It was his first goal in nine games.

The play was set up by Panarin and Kreider. They combined to find a cutting Zibanejad for his first power-play goal since Dec. 22. He hasn’t finished as much this season. Except for a mini-stretch last month, Zibanejad hasn’t scored the way he’s capable of. The Rangers need him to get hot.

Howden Seals it for Knights

Whenever they play the Knights, the Rangers see a familiar face. Howden spent three seasons on Broadway before he was traded to Vegas on July 17, 2021. He’s found a home there. A dependable checking forward who kills penalties, he seems to always play well against his former team.

With Shesterkin lifted for an extra attacker, Stone intercepted an Adam Fox pass and moved the puck ahead for Howden, who sealed it for the Knights with an empty netter. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Howden finished the game with a goal and an assist and a plus-two in 15:52. He got the last laugh again. It’s hard to beat winning a Stanley Cup. One in which he contributed to the Golden Knights’ victory last summer.

There really isn’t anything else to add. It is what it is.

Road Trip Continues in LA

Prior to the Rangers continuing their road trip with a visit to LA to face the struggling Kings, the Flyers will be in action earlier on Saturday when they host the Avalanche. They’ve won five games in a row to vault into second place in the division.

The Rangers still have a game in hand. They also have the first tiebreaker with six more regulation wins (23-17) than the Flyers. However, you can’t help but admire the job John Tortorella has done in Philadelphia. They don’t have any established stars. But they have good players who have bought into his system. That’s why they are where they are at this point of the season.

Valiquette Blasts Rangers’ Effort

In case you missed it, MSG Rangers analyst Steve Valiquette blasted the Rangers’ effort after the loss. He couldn’t understand how they could let a Vegas team off the hook when they were without top center Jack Eichel, top defenseman Theodore, and number one goalie Adin Hill.

He was correct in his assertion that it was a winnable game. He felt that once the Golden Knights surged ahead, there wasn’t much energy from the Rangers’ side. He even went as far as to say that they’re not the same team. In the first half, when they fell behind, they battled through it to pull out some games. There was none of that last night.

Aside from chastising both Lafreniere and Miller for the game’s first goal, Valiquette also didn’t have anything complimentary to say about the Rangers’ goaltending. He stated that since the new calendar year, it’s been their opponents that have had the better goalie in six of the nine games they’ve played this month.

He isn’t wrong. Shesterkin isn’t stealing as many games as he has in the past. Even if I’m not a big proponent of analytics, the statistics don’t lie.

There’s a reason for Shesterkin’s mediocre play that has him with a 2.84 goals-against-average (GAA) and a .902 save percentage. He hasn’t been as consistent. When even the telecast can tell that he’s shaky, that’s alarming.

It isn’t all his fault. The Rangers have gotten sloppy. It’s been going on for a while. The defensive lapses. The lazy turnovers. The blown coverages. There are too many open looks for opponents. That needs to change.

When you have some people questioning why these issues continue to prop up, maybe it isn’t about the coaching. This core has been together long enough to know how to play winning hockey. They’re on their third coach. It’s only Year 1 under Laviolette. The egregious mistakes shouldn’t still be happening.

Either they fix it and make a big run this spring, or it’s time for the organization to consider breaking it up. Enough is enough.