When the New York Rangers were eliminated by the New Jersey Devils in the first round last year, the hammer dropped on coach Gerard Gallant for the disappointing seven-game series defeat.

Enough established players voiced their displeasure over the coach, which led to Gallant’s dismissal after two successful seasons. The first one included a run to the Eastern Conference Final when they lost to the Lightning. It was a winnable series. Similar to them blowing a 2-0 series lead against the Devils in 2022-23.

Even if you didn’t care for how Gallant ran the bench, he won plenty of games as Rangers coach. A combined 99-46-19 record translated to a .662 winning percentage. It was the way in which the Rangers lost to the Devils that stung. After taking the first two games in Newark, they lost four of the last five to lose in excruciating fashion. It didn’t help that they were uncompetitive in a forgettable 4-0 loss in Game 7 to end last season.

A lack of adjustments hurt Gallant’s case. It was similar to what happened against the Lightning the prior spring. He got out-coached by Jon Cooper, who made the necessary adjustments that helped his championship experienced team come back to take the series in six games. The Rangers also led two games to none before the Lightning stormed back to win four straight.

When expectations increase as they had last season, the pressure mounts. The Rangers decided to go all in by adding Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane. While Tarasenko had some good moments, a hobbled Kane struggled due to a bad hip that needed surgery last off-season. He’s resurfaced in Detroit, showing that he still has some magic left.

Unlike 2021-22, when Rangers Team President and GM Chris Drury acquired Frank Vatrano and Andrew Copp to fit into the top two lines, the big stars weren’t perfect fits. You could still argue that a banged up Kane was one of the best Rangers versus the Devils in last year’s first round series. If only Artemi Panarin and Mika Zibanejad showed up consistently. They weren’t the only Blueshirts who had a bad series. But they’re the top two forwards they have.

Fast forward to this season. Under new coach Peter Laviolette, the Rangers started out on fire. Led by a determined Panarin, who remains one of the game’s most dynamic scorers, the team vaulted to the top of the standings, even leading the league at one point. With Vincent Trocheck putting in a terrific season and Alexis Lafreniere meshing with Panarin, who’s scoring with regularity, they’ve carried the Rangers to first place in the Metropolitan Division.

However, there are issues that have crept up. They aren’t the same team. For over a month, they’ve struggled with consistency. The once solid defensive structure they had under Laviolette has disappeared. With both Zibanejad and Chris Kreider, who scored his 21st for the team’s only goal in an ugly 2-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings last night – struggling to contribute at five-on-five, scoring has dried up. Adding Kaapo Kakko to the first line helps with puck possession and forechecking. He scored a goal and has had some other chances since returning on Jan. 14.

The problem is that there isn’t much else. The bottom six forwards aren’t scoring enough to help the offense. On Saturday night, Laviolette gave veteran Nick Bonino a game off to get Tyler Pitlick back into the lineup. He played on the checking line with Barclay Goodrow and Jimmy Vesey. Of the three, Vesey is a scoring threat. However, they haven’t gone in for a while. Entering tonight’s match versus the Anaheim Ducks, he’s gone eight games without a goal. Vesey had eight in 43 contests.

Rookie Will Cuylle continues to play on the third line. His honest style includes supplying some much needed physicality to a roster that lacks it. He leads the Blueshirts with 120 hits, which also tops all rookies this season. Cuylle has been without a goal since Dec. 29. He has seven in 45 games. He played with Jonny Brodzinski and Blake Wheeler on Saturday night. Wheeler isn’t the same player he used to be in Winnipeg. He can still add something playing a secondary role. But his skating remains an issue.

Despite dropping their sixth game over the last eight, the Rangers remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division with a 28-15-2 record. Their 58 points are two better than the Philadelphia Flyers and three up on the Carolina Hurricanes. They hold the first tiebreaker with 23 regulation wins. The Flyers only have 17 while the Hurricanes have 20. With the All-Star break approaching, there’s still a lot of games remaining. It’ll be interesting to see how the race unfolds.

When you look at the Rangers, they have enough core players who should understand what it takes to be successful. Kreider has been here the longest. He has been part of some really good teams that were close to winning the Stanley Cup. None more heartbreaking than 2013-14 when they fell to the Kings and Jonathan Quick a decade ago. Now, Quick plays for the Rangers and keeps them in games like last night when most of the team played uninspired against an offensively inept Kings, who got a gift from the perplexing K’Andre Miller late in the second period for the game-winner. Miller’s misadventures are becoming increasingly frustrating. He handed Quenton Byfield a goal you or I could’ve scored.

Miller is part of that core. He’s played long enough to know what he can and can’t do. You wouldn’t know it by some of the glaring mistakes he continues to make. Miller is good at assessing his play, even admitting that he took a mental break away from the team recently. At times, he can make the right plays that excite the same fans who are at their wit’s end with him. It’s imperative that he get back to playing the way he did for most of the first half. His work with Jacob Trouba remains the key to the defense. They get most of the tough assignments.

Adam Fox has been producing. He’s the offensive leader of the blue line. Teamed with rugged warrior Ryan Lindgren, who will do virtually anything to help the Rangers win, they are a reliable pair. Fox’s play has slipped defensively since returning from an upper-body injury he suffered on Nov. 2. He might be playing banged up. Lindgren always does due to absorbing some heavy hits and blocking shots.

In what’s been an inconsistent third year, Braden Schneider has been up and down. There are moments when he makes a good play that helps the cause. Then, there are times when he loses his man, such as on Kevin Fiala’s first goal for the Kings on Jan. 20. Even playing without Erik Gustafsson, that isn’t an excuse for leaving Fiala wide open to bury a Trevor Moore feed in front. A play Zac Jones did nothing wrong on. Jones doesn’t play often. But he hustled back defensively to stop a breakaway with a clean stick lift. Schneider has to avoid some of the penalties he takes. He’s still learning.

Igor Shesterkin has not been himself this season. Whether it’s the defense or not, the former 2022 Vezina winner has too many games when he’s allowing questionable goals. He still shows flashes of brilliance. But he has yet to rediscover the form that made him one of the game’s elite goalies. He’s 28 and supposed to be in his prime. The Rangers desperately need Shesterkin to raise his level if they want to seriously compete.

When it comes down to it, the Rangers’ core is on its third coach in four years. They had David Quinn from 2018-19 until 2020-21. He was tougher than Gallant, who was more hands-off like Alain Vigneault. That was part of the reason he was let go. The players indicated that they wanted a more hands-on coach who would be honest with them. Laviolette is certainly that. Just from watching his postgame interviews, he pulls no punches. He is much more honest in his assessment than Gallant.

The Rangers are still trying to win with Zibanejad as their number one center. He hasn’t had a consistent season. Always a streaky player, Zibanejad can get hot and score goals during stretches. The Rangers are still waiting for him to go on a tear. The five-on-five issues between him and Kreider, who’s on pace for 40 goals, remain. They haven’t been as effective on the cycle. Both are dangerous in transition. That’s how Kakko got his third goal in a 5-2 home win over the Seattle Kraken on Jan. 16. Kreider moved the puck up for Zibanejad, who then made a nice backhand pass that Kakko buried.

Forechecking remains an area the Rangers must improve. It can’t always come from Panarin, Trocheck, and Lafreniere, who was robbed late by Kings backup goalie David Rittich of a tying goal. If he buried half the chances he’s had, Lafreniere would have at least 20 goals instead of the 11 he brings into Anaheim.

The lack of defense is a big concern. It isn’t only about the defensemen. The forwards aren’t coming back consistently like they had been earlier in the season. They know better.

By now, opponents know that if they can shut down the Panarin line and limit the Rangers’ top power play, they have a good chance of winning. Unless Zibanejad and Kreider pick it up at even strength, the Rangers are too reliant on Panarin and Trocheck, who’s been their MVP due to what he brings. The impact on faceoffs is a big reason for the team’s improvement.

Even with Filip Chytil continuing to skate on his own back home in Czechia, there’s no way of knowing if or when he can return. Concussions are tricky because they’re the unknown. He must get medically cleared before playing again. If he takes another hit, that could be his career. What about his livelihood? Is it worth the risk? It’s his decision.

Obviously, if Chytil came back, that would help solve the secondary scoring issues. He could slot in on the third line and upgrade the top nine. That would then allow Laviolette to have better choices for the fourth line, including Bonino, who’s been miscast on the third line.

The Rangers still need another rugged forward who can also add some scoring to a stale roster that lacks enough grit if they get into a physical series. Blake Coleman has those qualities. But his cap hit ($4.9 million) is too much. He certainly has performed well for the mediocre Calgary Flames. Coleman teamed with Goodrow to win consecutive Cups in Tampa. They comprised that superb third line with Yanni Gourde.

Whatever the organization decides between now and the Mar. 8 trade deadline, it’ll still come down to a core that’s already gone through two coaches. The same problems are still boiling to the surface under Laviolette, who preaches team discipline along with a structured system.

At some point, you have to point the finger at the players. The window for this group is running out. If they fizzle out in the first round again following a promising start, it could be time for management to consider breaking it up. Hopefully, it doesn’t reach that point.