Make it two consecutive losses. At least they competed against the Islanders on Tuesday night. The Rangers lacked intensity in a concerning 4-1 loss to the Flyers at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

Facing a desperate opponent who was just trying to cling to hope following a 9-3 blowout defeat to the Canadiens, the Rangers played arguably their worst game of the season. They were soft and easy to play against.

The Flyers previously entered on an eight-game losing streak in which they were outscored 42-18. You wouldn’t have known it by how they played. They competed much harder for every puck and won almost every battle. They outworked the Rangers, who looked disjointed.

Peter Laviolette opted to stick with the same lineup as Tuesday. Maybe he should’ve rested some players. Mainly Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider. Both were non-factors. The same can be echoed for K’Andre Miller. He had a miserable night with partner Jacob Trouba, who continues to fumble pucks away and blow assignments.

If they want to have success in the postseason, those four players will need to play a lot better. There are issues for the still first overall Blueshirts, who remained a point up on the Stars due to Dallas losing 3-0 to Winnipeg. However, first place is no longer a lock.

The Hurricanes can come back to win the Metropolitan Division if they take care of their remaining three games and get help from either the Islanders or Senators. Carolina trails the Rangers by three points. However, they’re tied in regulation wins with 42. A win on Friday at St. Louis would allow them to pull within a single point and go ahead in the first tiebreaker.

With the race still up for grabs at the top, along with a wild chase at the bottom, many things won’t be decided until either Sunday or Monday. That’s how close everything is.

The Penguins moved into the second wildcard with a 6-5 overtime win over the Red Wings. They’re a point up on both the Wings and Capitals, who suffered a bad 4-2 loss at the Sabres. The Islanders secured two points in a 3-2 overtime win over the Canadiens. They look like they’ll finish third in the division.

As for the Rangers, they’ll want to burn the video footage of the loss to the Flyers. Aside from a power-play goal from Artemi Panarin, who is up to 47 goals with two games remaining, there was nothing else positive to take away from Thursday’s game.

On the Flyers’ first goal, a hustling Miller scrambled back to recover against Travis Konecny, only to lose his edge. Konecny then found a pinching Cam York, whose shot deflected off Will Cuylle and went upstairs to beat Jonathan Quick at 4:21.

Trailing by one late in the first period, the Rangers took advantage of a bogus charging call on Erik Johnson to capitalize on a five-on-three. With the first penalty set to expire in three seconds, Panarin took an Adam Fox pass and then faked before firing a wrist shot inside the near goalpost past Samuel Ersson to tie the score.

Earlier, Fox received the Rod Gilbert “Mr. Ranger” Award in a pregame ceremony. The scary part is as he went over to accept it from Mrs. Gilbert, he tripped and fell on the carpet. It’s a good thing that he was okay and able to crack a smile. The last thing this team needs is an injury to their star defenseman.

The second period was an eyesore. Unlike most of the second periods they’ve had, the Blueshirts were abysmal. On what was a bad bounce, Bobby Brink had his soft wrist shot go off of Miller’s stick past Quick with Ryan Poehling in front to restore a one-goal lead for the Flyers.

Before that goal, Vincent Trocheck was all set up in the slot on an early power play. But Ersson made a sprawling save to deny him. Ersson, who’d struggled mightily, made 24 saves to win for the first time since Mar. 23. In his last start versus the Rangers, he allowed six goals on 27 shots in a wild 6-5 overtime loss on Mar. 26. A game Fox got the winner in.

With less than nine minutes left in the period, Garnet Hathaway collided with Quick during a stoppage. His skate came up and hit the Rangers goalie, who responded by slashing Hathaway. Even if it was accidental, you can’t have that happening. Each player earned two minutes for the shenanigans.

Astonishingly, the four-on-four produced nothing. Both teams defended well. There was diligent checking during it and no scoring chances.

On a play indicative of how poorly they played, Zibanejad skated with the puck and had it stripped by Konecny, who led an odd man rush in the opposite direction. On what was a brutal defensive sequence, in which there were too many passengers, Poehling got the puck back over for Konecny, who scored his 32nd to make it 3-1 in the final minute.

In particular, Zibanejad didn’t hustle back. He got caught puck watching. It was a very soft play by a player who’s struggled at five-on-five most of the season. Making matters worse, both Miller and Trouba were caught out for the goal against. Miller finished a minus-3.

At the buzzer, Barclay Goodrow went after Hathaway. Travis Sanheim stepped in. Goodrow received four minutes for cross-checking and roughing while Sanheim got two for roughing. That gave the Flyers a power play to start the third period.

Quick only had to make one save while shorthanded. The penalty kill did a good job to keep the deficit at two.

Unlike the lackluster second, the Blueshirts came out with more purpose. They took the body. Trouba finished some checks, including a heavy one on Owen Tippett. Braden Schneider had a pair of hits on Morgan Frost. The energy got the crowd into it. But it didn’t last long.

On another hiccup, off a faceoff in the Flyers’ zone, Fox got caught pinching inside the blue line. That left Panarin to defend Noah Cates. He blew past Panarin and beat Quick from the right circle to make it 4-1 with 14:04 remaining.

There would be no comeback this time. Instead, the lethargic Rangers only mustered two shots in what amounted to garbage time. For some reason, they weren’t ready to play.

At this point, you don’t want to overreact to a bad loss. But the way they’ve played is a little concerning. They usually get off to slow starts, falling behind. Then, they rally to win games. In the playoffs, things tighten up. They’ll need to be sharper when the puck is dropped in over a week for Game 1.

Laviolette might want to insert Matt Rempe for the rematch with the Islanders on Saturday afternoon. Jack Roslovic continues to struggle. Rempe’s energy can be used with two games left.

Zac Jones should also get back into the lineup. Laviolette has to keep him ready. Jones has proven he can be a regular. I imagine Igor Shesterkin will start tomorrow. Depending on what happens this weekend, that’ll determine what’s decided for next Monday.