Following what was a disheartening loss to the Penguins last night, MSG Network studio analyst Steve Valiquette called out the Rangers in the postgame. When discussing the 3-2 defeat with John Giannone, he didn’t hold back.

“I’ve been on both really good teams and really bad teams. And I saw a lot of characteristics of losing hockey by not going into the corner first and using pace to get the puck and allowing it to become a 50-50. I saw a number of those from the Rangers’ side. And I saw a number of plays in the corner where the Rangers had numbers, but Pittsburgh came out with it.

“But you can’t fool the players. The players know if they’re in or they’re out. It looks to me like a lot of players are teetering on the out. I saw a lot of individual plays in this game starting in the first period with hope passes when it should have been deep and then play as a team and grind this team down. They don’t have as much skill as you in this game. But you didn’t get the opportunity to outskill them.

The Rangers’ best players couldn’t beat the hard-working players of the Penguins. That’s the outcome of this game.”

One thing about Valiquette is that he doesn’t hold back after losses. When the effort isn’t there, he’s been very critical of the Rangers this season. You can feel the disappointment in his tone. It’s not any different than how fans have felt watching this team. They don’t seem to get it. Why, I don’t know.

There’s another opportunity for them to gain some ground in the wild card race when they visit the Blue Jackets, who are one of five teams ahead of them in the playoff chase. It’s the last game before the break. When will they give us a reason to be optimistic? So far, the 2024-25 New York Rangers are the antithesis of the 2023-24 New York Rangers. Including tonight, there are 28 games left to save the season.