Raise your hand if you actually believed that by subtracting Jacob Trouba and defeating the flawed Penguins that the Rangers were back on track. Well, you thought wrong.

In an absolute stinker, they blew a 3-1 lead in a hideous 7-5 loss at 33rd and 7th on a hellacious football Sunday. If you included the Devils, then mine and Hasan’s teams went 0 for 4. At least his hockey team wins consistently when they’re not getting shut out or losing at home.

What is the Rangers’ excuse for the defenseless hockey they play? On my birthday, the last thing I wanted to do was watch an early matinee of garbage hockey. After catching an optimistic first period in which they thoroughly dominated play and led 1-0 on a Reilly Smith goal, I went to the card store to see my friend and played some scratch offs. That brought a smile to my face.

Then, I came home and they led 3-1 halfway through the contest. What could go wrong? Everything. Forget the fact that they made a last-ditch effort to tease the fans who attended into believing they’d come all the way back from a three-goal deficit and win it in overtime. That was after they embarrassed themselves by pissing away a two-goal lead and turning it into a 6-3 deficit with less than nine minutes left in regulation.

It is uncanny how fast this team can implode. They can go from playing a good game to looking like they never played team defense. For most of last season, they had structure and were more committed to coming back defensively. The regression started towards last postseason when Trouba could barely move. He wasn’t alone. Even as they marched to the league’s best record, there were warning signs.

In the second round, they nearly blew a 3-0 series lead to the Hurricanes. That was due to Carolina outplaying them at five-on-five and limiting the Rangers’ power play. When the play was at even strength, it favored the Hurricanes. Igor Shesterkin was the big eraser. Then, Chris Kreider came to the rescue with a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 6. If that doesn’t happen, they probably lose four straight and don’t play the Panthers in the Conference Finals. We saw what happened against them. They exposed the Rangers’ biggest weaknesses and advanced to win their first Stanley Cup against the Oilers.

If you followed the postseason, there were concerns about the defense moving forward. As much as I despise Chris Drury for how he handled business with Barclay Goodrow and then threatening waivers to force Trouba to accept a trade to the Ducks to get out of the remainder of his contract, I understand why he went to that length to do things. The problem is they have a declining Ryan Lindgren and a very underwhelming K’Andre Miller who still occupy half of the top four. If things don’t improve soon, both can be moved before next year’s trade deadline. That’s only if Drury has the guts to revamp a very soft blue line.

Let’s get to the forwards. They’re almost never in sync with the defensemen. Peter Laviolette’s system is man to man. That requires a lot of switching. They stopped doing it. That’s why so many players come wide open in front for goals. If I were Jonathan Quick, I’d be livid. That was an abomination. The Kraken beat Quick six times on 21 shots. None of the goals were soft.

They came from openings on the ice due to lackadaisical defensive coverage. The only instance I’ll give them a pass is on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s tip-in of a Brandon Montour shot that gave Seattle a 4-3 lead with less than 36 seconds remaining in the second period. Adam Fox was right with Bjorkstrand, who somehow got a piece of it for his second of the game.

If you listened to Steve Valiquette during the second intermission, he thought they Rangers would come back and win. He was proven right about the Kraken defense. They were on the ropes like a prize fighter on their last legs. But that came after they got the first two goals of the third period to suddenly go up 6-3. It was way too easy.

Alexis Lafreniere made a lazy attempt on the Kraken entry. He stick checked. Then, Miller reached. With a chance to get the puck out, Miller turned it over to Chandler Stephenson. He then moved the puck to Andre Burakovsky, who fed a Vince Dunn at a vacated point for a one-timer off the far goalpost and in. That goal came only a minute into the third. It summed up how bad this team has become.

As easy as it is to blame Miller, Lafreniere deserves more criticism. His lack of defensive awareness has become a problem. It isn’t a question of effort. But he’s almost never in the right position in his zone. For a player Drury invested long-term in, Lafreniere has a long way to go. Even his offense hasn’t been great. He showed me nothing when Laviolette broke up the big line. Lafreniere got his ninth goal later to make things interesting. It ended a seven-game goal drought. Since rejoining Artemi Panarin and Vincent Trocheck, he has three points in the last two games. It doesn’t explain the minus-11 rating.

Kaapo Kakko never picked up Shane Wright on the Kraken’s sixth goal. It wasn’t even close. On a play in transition Bjorkstrand started, Eeli Tolvanen made a perfect centering feed for a cutting Wright to tip in to make it 6-3 with 8:47 remaining. Laviolette sat Kakko on his next shift. Panarin took his spot.

Then, the Rangers tried to rally. On a good play from Fox at the point, Panarin moved the puck up for a Miller point shot that eluded Philipp Grubauer that cut it to 6-4 with 7:33 left. Suddenly, they began taking the play to the Kraken. It was a matter of time before Trocheck and Panarin combined to set up Lafreniere for an easy put away on matador defense from the Seattle players.

For the remainder of the game, the Kraken looked like they were ready to fold. Despite dominating the play, the Rangers couldn’t find the tying goal. When he needed to make a critical stop, Grubauer did.

Yanni Gourde’s empty netter sealed it with 1:46 left.

Laviolette Criticizes Effort

Following the loss, Laviolette criticized the effort. When asked by Mollie Walker of the New York Post what adjustments he can make when everything seems to be ending up in the back of your net, he responded by pointing the finger at the players.

“I can’t say this anymore here. When we had the opportunity, we were next to people that were looking to score, we were in place, we need to do a better job in those situations and in those areas. The difference between 2 inches and 2 feet in any sport is a lot. We were there, we just needed to be a bit tighter.”

“I feel like we were kind of just stretching the game a little bit, looking for plays that were not there yet instead of collectively breaking the puck out and working on the forecheck as a group of five. I think we were probably looking for easy offense a little bit too much in the second period and it kind of caught us,” Smith said in reference to a second period collapse that saw the Kraken score three straight goals to take a 4-3 lead.

Even though they played faster, the defense broke down at the wrong time. Despite getting goals from Filip Chytil and Trocheck (power play) to go up 3-1, they fell apart in the final six minutes of the period. Brandon Tanev and Tolvanen tallied 88 seconds apart to tie the score. Then, Trocheck lost a defensive draw to Wright that led to Bjorkstrand redirecting Montour’s shot past Quick to give the Kraken their first lead at 19:24.

Bad Start to Third Proves Costly

Following the disappointing conclusion to the second, the Rangers had a chance to regroup during intermission. Or so we thought. Instead of coming out with more urgency, they allowed the Kraken to build a two-goal lead. Lafreniere and Miller did a lousy job on the entry. They stick waved instead of taking the man. That soft coverage resulted in more sustained pressure from the Kraken. Miller’s giveaway allowed Stephenson and Burakovsky to set up Dunn’s goal that made it 5-3 exactly a minute into the third period.

It was unacceptable. Worse was Kakko’s ole defense on Wright’s goal in transition. The sea parted in the neutral zone, allowing Bjorkstrand to lead Tolvanen on a two-on-one. He had a cutting Wright in front for an easy tap in that made it 6-3. Kakko was completely out of position. Considered one of their better defensive forwards, he’s made some mistakes during this stretch. His improvement offensively while playing mostly with Chytil and Will Cuylle is noticeable. But he still only has four goals in 26 games. Fourteen points is decent production in a supporting role. They need more goals from Kakko.

An Alarming Trend for Panarin Line

Although they continue to produce offense, the Panarin line is on for too many goals against. Despite being on for two goals including Miller’s tally that started a rally in the third, they were minus-one in goal differential at five-on-five. Somehow, in a game they dominated territorially with a 70.27 CF per Natural Stat Trick, the trio of Panarin, Trocheck, and Lafreniere were on for three goals against.

That simply cannot happen. For the season, the big line is a plus-4. They’ve been on for 19 goals for and 15 goals against. They’re giving up almost as many as they’re scoring. That didn’t happen last year. Even Trocheck’s defensive play has slipped. He’s heating up offensively. But they need him to lead the way in the defensive zone. He didn’t lose many big faceoffs that led to opponents scoring last season. He also didn’t get beat as frequently in coverage.

By comparison, the reunited line of Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider, and Smith are a plus-1. They’ve been on for nine goals for and eight goals against. The only line that has been dominant at five-on-five is Chytil, Cuylle, and Kakko. They’re a plus-11, having outscored opponents 12-1. That one goal against came yesterday when Kakko got beaten badly by Wright for the game-winner.

Shesterkin Returns for Blackhawks

After his wife gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Igor Shesterkin returns to the net for the Rangers when they take on the Blackhawks later tonight.

It’s been an emotional weekend for Shesterkin. He signed the big contract extension worth a record $92 million over eight years to remain a New York Ranger. The $11.5 million cap hit is the most ever for a goalie. It’s all been covered in my last post.

Related: Rangers Make Shesterkin the Highest Paid Goalie in NHL History

Now, he can focus on playing hockey. A happy Shesterkin should boost team morale.