It’s getting harder and harder to assess who the New York Rangers are this season. After picking up their league best ninth win on the road via a 2-1 shootout triumph over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, they again reverted at home in a puzzling 2-1 loss to the far superior Detroit Red Wings.

As good as they’ve been away from home, it is as bad as they are at Madison Square Garden. The defeat was their eighth in nine games at MSG. Just who are the Rangers? Are they the dominant team that’s 9-1-1 on the road, or the punchless one that’s a dismal 1-7-1 at home? The best estimated guess is something in between.

Both Original Six rivals came in, playing the second of a back-to-back. However, the Red Wings had more to prove following blowing a 4-1 third period lead to the Buffalo Sabres in a bad overtime loss on home ice. Perhaps it wasn’t that surprising that the Red Wings picked up their first win in eight games against the Rangers.

It sure didn’t explain how bad they looked on an emotional night. Prior to the opening faceoff, MSG paid tribute to Hall of Fame writer Larry Brooks on the video board. Many journalists attended his service earlier today.

It was wonderfully done with Brooks’ Hockey Hall of Fame picture and flowers set up where he sat to cover games in the press box. If he’d seen the Rangers’ poor display, you could bet your bottom dollar that he would’ve been finishing up a scathing column.

They were pitiful. So badly outplayed and out-skated by the Red Wings that it looked like only a handful of players showed up. If not for the remarkable play of Jonathan Quick, who stood on his head in making 40 saves on 42 shots, it would’ve been a blowout loss.

Instead, the Rangers hung in thanks to many acrobatic stops from the unorthodox Quick, who really deserved a better fate. If only most of his teammates had given a stronger effort.

Incredibly, Quick made 15 saves while the Rangers were shorthanded. Sixteen of Detroit’s 42 shots came on the power play. He did all he could to give an undisciplined team a chance at stealing two points. For some reason, they didn’t want it as badly as the Red Wings.

Before the game, it was revealed that Mike Sullivan would miss the game due to a family matter. Hopefully, it was only to go visit son-in-law Charlie McAvoy, who lost a tooth when he took an errant puck to his mouth on Saturday night. It was gruesome.

David Quinn and Joe Sacco ran the Rangers bench in Sullivan’s absence. Listening to Quinn in the postgame, he wasn’t pleased with what he saw. He mentioned how they made a lot of errors that fueled Detroit’s transition game. They took full advantage of some sloppy turnovers. The Rangers were credited with 19 giveaways. They were outshot 42-19 and out-attempted 76-59.

From the outset, it was the more determined Red Wings who had the extra jump in their step. They were able to spend more zone time on the attack. Despite getting nine of the first 13 shots, they were unable to solve Quick. He was again sharp against an opponent he’d dominated recently. He entered, having won his last three starts versus the Red Wings, only allowing 3 goals. That included a 32-save performance in a win on Nov. 7 at Detroit.

They controlled large potions of a penalty filled second period. Each team had two power plays. Referee Kelly Sutherland drew the ire of the Rangers bench following a dubious call on Sam Carrick for “holding the stick” on J.T. Compher. MSG TV analyst Dave Maloney told it like it was.

By that point, the Red Wings and Rangers had already exchanged power-play goals. Quick had already made a few sparklers with Detroit on the man-advantage. But he was unable to stop a Lucas Raymond shot from getting through, which Alex DeBrincat put in for a 1-0 lead.

Sutherland made a questionable call on Moritz Seider for delay of game. Red Wings coach Todd McLellan had a lengthy discussion with Sutherland before deciding to not challenge. It was hard to tell if Seider’s clearing attempt went straight out.

The Rangers took full advantage of it by tying the game. Following an Artemi Panarin point shot that Will Cuylle got a piece of, the rebound came right to Mika Zibanejad for an easy put away. That made it four straight games with a power-play goal for the Rangers. Zibanejad is up to 112 as Ranger, trailing Camille Henry and Chris Kreider by four for the most in franchise history.

Then came the controversial call on Carrick. Compher wisely hooked Carrick’s stick into him to draw a dubious minor penalty. Former New Jersey Devil Jamie Langenbrunner was the master of it. He’d frequently tug at the player’s stick and pull it into him to get the call. Most players do it. Sutherland isn’t the only ref to be duped. It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. 

Despite the Red Wings getting several point blank opportunities to score. Quick was unconscious in net, making some unbelievable saves to keep it tied headed to the third period.

In a game that also featured the Rangers debut of defenseman Scott Morrow, he didn’t see much ice time, finishing with 9:56 while paired up with Matthew Robertson. As it turned out, he dressed in place of Urho Vaakanainen, who sat out.

Quinn and Sacco leaned heavily on Adam Fox and Vladislav Gavrikov with both going over 24 minutes. Carson Soucy saw an increased role. That proved to be a mistake. His foot speed was exposed on the game-winner.

The Rangers had to kill off two more penalties. It was basically let Quick make the saves. He also was scrambling around when a Patrick Kane shot headed for the net and went off Zibanejad to stay out. It was a crazy sequence.

But in a period that saw them on their heels throughout, the Rangers finally got burned when Raymond scored a beauty with 3:48 left in regulation. Taking a Dylan Larkin feed, he skated around a sliding Soucy and around the net to beat an out of position Quick for the game-winner. With Quick trying to get back in position, Soucy also screened him on Raymond’s goal.

With Quick on the bench for an extra attacker, Cam Talbot made a rare save by stopping a long Panarin shot. The rebound was right there for J.T. Miller to bury. But Saturday’s shootout hero missed.

After the buzzer sounded, Mason Appleton fired the puck into an empty net. Of course, an incensed Quick came off the bench and went after Appleton. Both teams nearly got into a brawl. But eventually, cooler heads prevailed. Had they showed that same fire Quick did, maybe they could’ve won.

The Red Wings deserved the win. They were much better than the Rangers on a night they honored the memory of Brooks and their 1950s and 1960s stars, which included Chuck Rayner, Andy Bathgate, and Rod Gilbert.

Maybe it’s the centennial jerseys. They haven’t won much with them. It doesn’t make sense. Does anything with this Jekyll and Hyde team?