It was another frustrating loss for the Rangers. Two days after getting shut out by the Islanders, they fell in overtime to the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes came back from a goal down in the third period to pull it out 3-2 on Jackson Blake’s power-play goal with 12 seconds left in overtime.

Continuing to play without Adam Fox and J.T. Miller, the Rangers twice held a one-goal lead against the Hurricanes who before the game announced that Pyotr Kochetkov will have surgery for a lower-body injury that will likely end his season. Even without key stars Seth Jarvis and Jaccob Slavin, they’ve managed to remain in first place in the Metropolitan Division. They were without four regulars including Shayne Gostisbehere.

K’Andre Miller returned from an injury to face his former team for the first time this season. He was traded to Carolina in the off-season for a package that included defenseman Scott Morrow along with 2026 first and second round draft picks. Right now, it’s advantage Hurricanes. Miller entered the game with two goals and 11 assists in 29 games. Of course, he contributed with a secondary assist in nearly 23 minutes for the Hurricanes in the win.

The Rangers have basically been running out the same lineup. For reasons only known to Mike Sullivan, he decided to have Conor Sheary play in place of Brennan Othmann, who may as well not even exist. He’s been treated with kid gloves by the latest recycled coach who like his predecessors prefers veterans over young players. At this point, they’ve tanked Othmann’s value completely. He probably can’t wait to move on. To think that he’s a Chris Drury first round pick.

Of course, Sullivan kept Mika Zibanejad between Artemi Panarin and Alexis Lafreniere, who’s the most snake bit player in recent memory. Lafreniere entered the match with eight goals in 40 games. He again couldn’t convert on a pair of great scoring chances. Brandon Bussi kept him off the game sheet with a couple of strong denials.

After scoring a career-high 28 while playing with Panarin and Vincent Trocheck in 2023-24, Lafreniere only has 25 goals over his last 123 regular season games. It’s mind-numbing how bad he is at finishing when he’s had the benefit of playing mostly with Panarin. Not too long ago, he scored eight goals in the Rangers’ run to the Conference Finals. Along with Trocheck, he was one of their best forwards against the Panthers. Ever since, things have fallen apart.

Over a year since signing the contract extension with a $7.45 million cap hit, it might be time to move on for both sides. His no-trade clause doesn’t kick in until July 2027. Would the Rangers consider swapping Lafreniere for Quenton Byfield ($6.25 million AAV), who’s been equally disappointing since re-signing with the Kings? It’s hard to believe that they were once the first and second picks in the 2020 NHL Draft. At the halfway mark, Lafreniere has a disappointing 20 points and minus-8 rating. Byfield came in Monday night with 21 points and a +1 rating in 36 games.

At this point, it’s just something to ponder. Lafreniere’s failure hasn’t helped an offensively challenged team succeed. He isn’t alone in that department. Although he’s played much better than last season, Zibanejad still doesn’t produce consistently at even strength. Of his 29 points, 16 have come at even strength. However, he’s scored only four goals with seven coming on the power play and one shorthanded. Lafreniere entered with 18 even strength points, which remarkably ranks second behind Panarin, who added an assist to his team-leading 30 even strength points.

Trocheck has continued to play with rookie Gabe Perreault and Will Cuylle, who sometimes moves down to the third line to work with Noah Laba. The issue for Sullivan is that the combinations aren’t working. Trocheck doesn’t have chemistry with Perreault, who should be tried with Zibanejad. Sullivan has kept force feeding Lafreniere and Panarin with Zibanejad. But how good have they really been since being put together? They work better with Trocheck, who’s able to create space for both and drive to the net. My suggestion would be flipping the centers when the Rangers visit the struggling Capitals on New Year’s Eve.

Despite Vladislav Gavrikov scoring his career best seventh goal of the season on the power play that was set up by Panarin and Trocheck, the Rangers didn’t play well. The Hurricanes took over most of the play in the first period. That eventually led to Sebastian Aho evening the score on a five-on-three. With Jonny Brodzinski already off for tripping, Braden Schneider took an undisciplined delay of game to hand the Canes a two-man advantage that even their anemic power play converted on.

Schneider is yet another first round flop. Once dubbed “Baby Trouba” by teammates, he’s never blossomed into the defenseman the organization thought he could become. Instead, he’s too mistake prone due to butchering passes, and has been on for way too may goals against since being elevated to the top pair with Gavrikov. Schneider is a restricted free agent following the season. Whether or not he’s a Ranger remains to be seen. Although flawed, Schneider plays hard and is a good penalty killer. A right defenseman who’s capable of playing a more defined role, he could draw interest before the Mar. 6 trade deadline.

If there was one story coming out of Raleigh, it was the Rangers’ inability to bury their chances. That included a couple of 2-on-1’s with Bussi making a big stop on Laba, who came in with speed, but couldn’t finish.

The 27-year-old Bussi has become a folkhero for Carolina. Before this year, he’d never played in the NHL. The former Western Michigan University product spent parts of three seasons in the American Hockey League playing for the Providence Bruins. On Oct. 5, the Hurricanes picked him up off waivers from the Panthers. Little did they know that he’d become their number one goalie due to injuries to Kochetkov and Frederik Andersen. Bussi finished with 17 saves in improving to an astonishing 13-1-1 in 15 games.

With the game still tied in the second period, some hard work from the fourth line led to Brodzinski getting his fourth at exactly 13:00. On a good zone entry from Brodzinski, Matt Rempe passed the puck up top for a Matthew Robertson shot that was double deflected. Sam Carrick tipped the puck over to Brodzinski, who made it 2-1. It was a great play by all four players.

In the third period, the Hurricanes pressed for the equalizer. They finally got it when Jordan Martinook had a Jalen Chatfield shot bank in off his skate past Igor Shesterkin with 10:49 remaining. A Schneider turner allowed Miller to keep the puck in and set up the tying goal.

Despite some great stops in regulation, Shesterkin had no chance on the goal. It was another tough night for him. He made 31 saves and predictably came out on the losing side. He must want to pull his hair out the way the team plays in front of him.

Neither side showed any interest in attempting to get it done in regulation. It’s become a bad trend in the NHL with teams continuing to play for the free point. But sure. The game’s never been better. What a joke.

The three on three was no better. It consisted of the same resets and over skating that’s become all too common. It wasn’t until Robertson was forced to take down Taylor Hall that the Hurricanes got the only opportunity they needed to win the game. What Robertson was doing out in that situation I’ll never know.

For the most part, the three-man penalty killing unit of Trocheck, Gavrikov, and Schneider was getting it done. Carolina kept trying to make the perfect play over to Andrei Svechnikov. Eventually, the Rangers took a timeout to put that same trio out. For the longest time, it looked like the game was headed to a shootout. Instead, Nik Ehlers fed Aho, who was able to fire a shot pass for Blake to redirect home for the winner.

At least it saved us the aggravation of seeing another shootout. There’s not much else to say about this team. They’re not any good. When Panarin is going, he can carry them to victories. Fox sounds like he’s targeting Jan. 2 versus the Panthers in the Winter Classic. If he can return, maybe they can send down Morrow, who doesn’t look like an NHL player. He makes too many poor reads and struggles when there’s any sign of trouble. Already 23, I can see why Carolina parted with him.

At least they got a first and second back. Does anyone actually trust the scouts to hit on a late first round pick? Exactly.