A storm hit the Big Apple. The Hurricanes were way too strong for the Rangers in a 4-0 whitewash at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night. They handed the Rangers their second straight defeat in regulation.

It’s looking bleak on Broadway. Despite all the good they did for most of the month, they ended January with a collective thud by losing to the two best teams they faced. Unlike the gut-wrenching fashion in which they lost to the Avalanche, they were never really in it against the Canes. Carolina played their usual swarming forechecking and defensive style to blanket the Rangers in what was another epic fail against an opponent they used to handle. They fell to 0-3 in the season series with all three decided in regulation.

If there’s been a toxic trait this season, it’s been the Rangers’ inability to start games on time. Before a minute had expired, Andrei Svechnikov scored to put the Canes ahead to silence the home crowd. The main culprit was again Artemi Panarin, who was last seen watching helplessly as Artturi Lehkonen scored the winner for the Avalanche after overstaying his shift. Panarin tried to skate through the neutral zone one on two which led to a turnover. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Taylor Hall combined to find Svechnikov open in the slot for a wrist shot that beat Igor Shesterkin top shelf at 56 seconds in. Fittingly, it was Hall’s first point with his new team.

Sam Carrick went after Riley Stillman for a hit on a previous shift, leading to the two squaring off briefly. Each went off for five minutes. It wasn’t that they didn’t have opportunities to tie the game. But the Rangers couldn’t capitalize on an early power play that Filip Chytil drew on Jordan Martinook for slashing. Unless you think an Adam Fox shot from a sharp angle along with an unscreened Mika Zibanejad shot were good chances on Freddie Andersen. There wasn’t enough from the top unit on that particular sequence against the Canes, who remain the top-ranked penalty kill in the league for a reason.

If you like suffocating defense and tight checking, then you should watch Rod Brind’Amour’s club. They remain successful due to the consistency in his well-structured system that also leads to plays in transition and scoring chances.

The best opportunity for the Rangers came from the fourth line. Matt Rempe threw the puck in front for an Adam Edstrom deflection which Andersen handled. The line anchored by Carrick continues to be the one that stands out in these games. While that’s nice, it doesn’t say much for the Rangers’ best players.

The top line had a frustrating night. Aside from Panarin’s costly mistake, he didn’t distinguish himself with the Canes limiting him to two shots. Alexis Lafreniere took an undisciplined cross-checking minor on Svechnikov, who predictably embellished it to draw the power play. At least the Canes didn’t score on it. Vincent Trocheck also had a tough game against his former team. He only had one shot and made a critical mistake that led directly to Svechnikov getting his second of the game with 31 seconds left in the second period.

Before that point, Shesterkin did everything possible to keep the Rangers in the game. He turned away Eric Robinson on a breakaway and denied Svechnikov earlier in the second. He made several big saves when the Canes threatened to run away with it. There were the familiar, “Ig-or-, Ig-or!” chants from the crowd. He certainly did his part to give his team a lift.

It really wasn’t until Ryan Lindgren was off for cross-checking that things got interesting. Following a Shesterkin stop on Sean Walker, Chris Kreider later came out with a loose puck to start a two-on-one with Zibanejad. Kreider’s shorthanded bid was denied by Andersen, who was sharp when called upon. He finished with 22 saves to pick up the shutout.

On the same penalty kill, Trocheck stripped Shayne Gostisbehere at the blue line and pushed the puck ahead for a shorthanded breakaway. As he picked up the loose puck and moved in on Andersen, it looked like he’d take the shot. Instead, he got too cute and tried a low percentage back pass for the trailing K’Andre Miller that didn’t work. When the puck was turned over, it spelled doom. Jackson Blake moved the puck up for Mikko Rantanen, who then fed Svechnikov for a tap in to score a backbreaker that made it 2-0 at 19:29.

In that moment, the game was over. It didn’t matter that the Rangers were only down two with a period left. It was the way it happened. Facing a stingy opponent that’s as tough to play against like the Hurricanes, they weren’t coming back from that. Trocheck has been a very vocal leader who’s done a lot of good things over the past month. But on that particular play, he could only hang his head in frustration. It really stung. Boos rained down on the Rangers when the buzzer sounded.

As if to confirm the obvious, Peter Laviolette went to the hat trick and mixed up his lines. Of course, it predictably backfired right away at the start of the third period. After Trocheck took a shift with Will Cuylle and Reilly Smith, Chytil was in between Panarin and Kreider. Initially, Kreider hustled back to break up a Canes’ chance. However, his turnover led directly to Sebastian Aho scoring at 1:04 to make it 3-0. At that moment, I’d seen enough. You just can’t make the kind of mistakes this team does. They beat themselves on the first three Canes’ goals.

Adding insult to injury, they left Seth Jarvis wide open in front to make it 4-0 only 1:26 later. How bad were the Rangers? They only mustered three shots in the final period. If they wanted to be taken seriously, they had to win either against the Avalanche or tonight against the Canes. Instead, they managed to lose both games. Even with teams ahead of them losing, it doesn’t matter.

There are 32 games remaining this season. At this point, it looks over. Why should anyone get their hopes up? If they can’t beat quality teams, there’s no realistic chance of making the playoffs. I think it ended tonight. They dug themselves too big a hole and now must climb over too many teams.

Chris Drury, what’s your next move? It better not be giving another five-year contract out with a no-trade clause to a veteran.