On a night they honored the history of the franchise, it was the same old story for the New York Rangers on home ice. For the fourth time this season, the offense was punchless. Even with Mika Zibanejad setting up Artemi Panarin for his third goal in two games just 57 seconds in to finally end the home scoreless streak at 180:57, the Rangers never scored another goal in a frustrating 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Entering the contest, the Rangers had already become the first NHL team to fail to score a single goal in the first three home games to start a season. Had they gone another 7:20 without a goal, it would’ve broken the Pittsburgh Pirates’ record for offensive futility set in 1928-29. At least they never reached that NHL record of 187:19.

On a great transition play in which all six Rangers touched the puck, with Igor Shesterkin handing off for Matthew Robertson, who then got it over to Will Borgen who gained the zone. Borgen then had a pass down low for Will Cuylle retrieved by Zibanejad, who made a beautiful feed in front for Panarin to bury for a 1-0 lead. It was Panarin’s fifth point over the last two games. At the very least, the soon to be 34-year-old Ranger has finally got going. So has Zibanejad, who had another strong game despite lamenting failing to bury a chance in a pointed remark during the postgame.

“We just have to keep going. I don’t know. Do you have a better idea than what we’re doing right now? Honestly. It’s frustrating. I know you guys have to ask the questions. We have to bear down. I have to score on that one,” a visibly frustrated Zibanejad said in regards to creating puck luck.

It was the most upset he’s ever sounded following a loss. He’s come in with a much different approach and very serious attitude. Zibanejad is playing with a lot more purpose in every facet. He knows how important his role is without Vincent Trocheck. He’s started to find chemistry with Panarin for the first time. It only took six years. Hopefully, they can continue to build on things on Thursday when the San Jose Sharks come to town.

If there was a disappointing aspect from Monday night’s loss, it was the Rangers’ inability to prevent a determined Wild from attacking at will in a lopsided first period. Their physicality proved to be too much. In particular, the scoring line featuring Kirill Kaprizov, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Matt Boldy. Even without number one center Marco Rossi, the Wild’s number one unit imposed their will at five-on-five by spending long stretches in the Rangers zone. As dynamic as they were, the tying goal came off a faceoff win from Eriksson Ek.

He got the puck over to Boldy, who fed the point for a Jonas Brodin shot that Alexis Lafreniere deflected, fooling Igor Shesterkin to even the game at 5:10. Lafreniere didn’t go far enough out to block the shot. That caused some confusion for Shesterkin, who had the shot bounce off his stick and in. During a stoppage, Rangers coach Mike Sullivan went over to Lafreniere on the bench and explained to him what he did wrong. It was a good teaching moment.

There are more pressing issues right now. Lafreniere was largely ineffective for most of the game. Eight games into his sixth season, he looks more and more like a bust who’ll never become a consistent player. Since scoring and setting up a goal against the Buffalo Sabres, he’s gone six straight games without a point. He’s already been moved off the Panarin line to play with J.T. Miller and Conor Sheary. In another bad sign, he’s been outplayed by Sheary, whose hustle is always noticeable during shifts. The trouble is the veteran can’t score.

Right now, Miller’s stuck with two forwards who can’t finish. On a night he paced the team with six shots, he had nothing to show for it. Eight games into his first year as Rangers captain, he has four points. That’s clearly not enough production for a player who must make a difference. One area where he continues to get the job done is on faceoffs. Miller went 15-for-25 on draws while logging 23:41 of ice time to lead all forwards.

With the defense struggling early, Robertson and Borgen had more ice time than Braden Schneider and Carson Soucy, who looked rusty in his return to the lineup. He only received 10:20 while Schneider got 15:54. Due in large part to getting pinned in their end by the Wild top line for an extended shift during a first period that saw them out-shoot and out-chance the Rangers by a wide margin, Robertson finished with 20:19, including 2:49 while shorthanded. Borgen received a little less (18:37 TOI) due to a delay of game penalty he took while facing the Wild pressure.

Despite the Wild’s dominance, they weren’t able to take the lead. After getting the weekend off, Shesterkin was sharp. He made several big saves on point blank shots from Minnesota. That included keeping Kaprizov off the scoresheet. The Wild superstar didn’t factor in until the latter stages. However, his fingerprints were all over the game.

With seemingly nothing going on in a rather quiet building, Schneider woke the fans up by catching Marcus Foligno with a big hit that sent him flying. The Rangers probably could’ve used it sooner.

The second period was played on even terms, with each side getting 11 shots. Most of it was played at even strength. The Blueshirts had to kill off a pair of Wild power plays. The first came with Lafreniere off for hooking. Despite some good puck possession, the Wild were unable to score. While they were up a man, Noah Laba was caught by a Vinnie Hinostroza shot in the face, sending him down full of blood. They blew the play down. Laba went off for repairs, but he would return later wearing a protected helmet for the third period.

When play resumed, the Rangers killed off the penalty. Back at full strength, Miller missed on a couple of scoring chances. After getting stopped by Filip Gustavsson, he went wide on a follow-up. Although he wasn’t busy, Gustavsson turned aside 23 of 24 shots to earn the game’s second star. He later stopped Zibanejad and Panarin.

After preventing the Wild from converting on their third power play, the Rangers went to the locker room still tied at one.

Early in the third, a strong shift from the Sam Carrick line resulted in a pair of opportunities. First, Matt Rempe was denied on a break-in by Gustavsson. He then stopped Adam Edstrom.

A good shift from Sheary drew a hooking minor on Jake Middleton. On the power play, Zibanejad had the best chance to put the Rangers ahead. After being denied once by Gustavsson, he missed on a tip-in. Had he scored, maybe it’s a different story. Instead, the game remained tied.

Some unfortunate luck led directly to the Wild grabbing the lead. Borgen had a clearing attempt accidentally hit the linesman who was seated on the Rangers bench. Despite some confusion from Sullivan, they made the right call by putting the faceoff back in the Rangers zone due to the linesman being out of play. That faceoff would prove costly.

On it, Marcus Johansson carried the puck around the net and had his wrap-around stopped by a sprawling Shesterkin. With him laying flat on his back without knowing where the puck was, Wild rookie Danila Yurov was able to beat Soucy to the loose puck and stuff it in for his first career NHL goal with 11:44 remaining. If there’s one Rangers tradition that’s probably stood the test of time, even with the Boucher family, Cooks, and Hextalls in the building, it’s the team allowing the first goal to someone. Whether it be a rookie or a journeyman, that’s part of rooting for this team. Centennial anniversary or not.

Of course, that Yurov tally held up as the game-winner. With the Wild protecting the lead, Zibanejad nearly had one. On the doorstep, he had his one-timer robbed by the glove of Gustavsson. It was the closest the Rangers came to tying the game.

With Shesterkin off for an extra attacker, Kaprizov sealed it with an empty netter at 18:24. For the fourth time this season, the Rangers lost on home ice. Somehow, they’ve managed to score only once in 12 periods at Madison Square Garden. On the road, they’ve had much more success by scoring 15 of their 16 goals to go 3-0-1.

Something has to give. If they can’t figure it out against the Sharks, it might take until Election Day for them to win at home. In fact, the game against San Jose on my brother’s birthday is the final one of October. The Rangers will then embark on a four-game Western swing with stops in Calgary, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Seattle between Oct. 26 thru Nov. 1. They won’t return to The Garden until Nov. 4 against Carolina.