It will not be a Happy New Year for the Rangers. Well, at least it won’t tonight on New Year’s Eve when they celebrate after touching down in Miami to prepare for the Panthers in Friday’s Winter Classic.

On what was a promising start with Adam Fox returning to the lineup after missing 14 straight games due to a likely shoulder separation sustained on Nov. 29, they lost a tough one to the Caps 6-3 this afternoon. It was their third straight defeat, with two coming in regulation. They fell to 19-8-5 to remain at 43 points with already 42 games played. Any postseason aspirations they have will be an uphill battle in the second half of the season.

Realistically speaking, they don’t look like a playoff team. The only reason the Rangers and Devils are hanging around is due to all the parity in a weak conference that lacks a dominant team. Injuries to key stars have limited the Lightning and Panthers, who are still without Matthew Tkachuk leading into the big game against the Rangers on Friday. Might that change in two days? Only the Panthers know. Regardless, they’ve played themselves back into the wild card and are two points behind the Lightning.

With the Rangers now winless in three straight (0-2-1), they’ve been passed in the standings by the Sabres and Penguins. The Devils can still pass them tonight if they get at least a point against the Blue Jackets.

In a first period mostly controlled by the Caps, Anthony Beauvillier opened the scoring when he buried a Ryan Leonard backhand feed past Jonathan Quick. In 37 games versus the Rangers, Beauvillier has now scored 15 times. He has two goals in three meetings this season. He’s always killed the Rangers. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that he was a factor in the game.

In a low intensity period where they’d been held to four shots, the Rangers were able to tie it thanks to Vincent Trocheck, who redirected a Panarin shot past Charlie Lindgren at 19:20. A Fox drop pass allowed Panarin to send a long shot towards the net that Trocheck deflected in for his ninth. Alexis Lafreniere was also parked in front on the play. Trocheck has three goals over his last four.

The second period was much different thanks to Tom Wilson. The Caps’ leading goalscorer heated things up when he caught Noah Laba leaning with a clean hit that injured the rookie center. While play continued, Connor McMichael then fed Wilson in front for the go-ahead goal at 7:33. Laba didn’t return following the upper-body injury he suffered. Mike Sullivan didn’t provide an update on Laba or Conor Sheary, who also left the game after the second period. They’ll be re-evaluated.

When it comes to Wilson, he hits hard and most of the time, it’s clean. Once a dirty player, he’s become a premier power forward. After he decked Laba, who stayed down, Will Borgen battled with Wilson during the shift. Eventually, Borgen and Braden Schneider got exposed on a three-on-two that was started by Rasmus Sandin. Once he moved the puck for McMichael, he drew Schneider, who went down and allowed the easy centering feed for an easy Wilson finish.

Schneider didn’t make the right decision. However, no forward came back to help both defensemen. Sheary sent Wilson down after the goal, which easily could’ve been a penalty. Why Sheary continues to play is puzzling. Sullivan prefers defensive-minded forwards. Sheary has nine points in 37 games.

Once Laba was hurt, the Rangers had to respond to the Wilson hit. Even if it wasn’t dirty, he had to answer for it. Sure enough, the always willing Sam Carrick stepped up and challenged him two minutes later. Of course, Carrick gave up a lot in size and weight class. But as usual, he proved why nobody has more heart or guts on this team than him. He didn’t allow Wilson to get free and nail him with a clean right.

Somehow, the refs gave Carrick an instigator for the scrap. If there’s a rule that needs more clarification, it’s the instigator. If one combatant drops the gloves first and starts throwing before the other does, that’s fine. In this case, it was a bad call that put the Caps on the power play. They made the most of it with Justin Sourdif able to steer in an Alex Ovechkin pass in the crease for a 3-1 lead.

The Rangers came back with a power-play goal of their own. On what was some excellent passing, Panarin moved the puck up for Mika Zibanejad, who then passed cross for a Fox one-timer that went top shelf to cut the deficit to one. It was nice to see Fox wind up with a slap shot and pick the corner. A rarity for him. In his return, he finished with a goal and assist.

In the third, they were down to 10 forwards. Sullivan went with three lines. He settled on Zibanejad with Panarin and Will Cuylle. Trocheck played with Lafreniere and Gabe Perreault, who came very close to tying it. Carrick was with Brodzinski and Taylor Raddysh. Matt Rempe stayed on the bench due to Sullivan looking for offense. He also double shifted his best players.

For the first half of the period, it was mostly the Rangers pressing for the equalizer. The best line was the one that included Perreault, who had a strong showing. He found chemistry with Lafreniere and Trocheck, with the trio very effective during their shifts. Lafreniere nearly had Perreault for the tying goal, but Lindgren made the critical save.

The Caps turned the tables when they took advantage of a favorable matchup. Going up against the Carrick unit and third pair, Sandin was able to win a board battle with Carson Soucy. He then centered in front for Aliaksei Protas, who got free of a Matthew Robertson check to make it 4-2.

Following the backbreaking goal, the Rangers ran out of gas. Wilson scored his second of the game on a nifty McMichael backhand pass from behind the net to make it 5-2. With it out of reach, Perreault picked up an assist on a Schneider goal that went shortside on Lindgren to make it 5-3 with 1:44 remaining.

With Quick off for an extra attacker, a set play led to Sourdif scoring into an open net to seal the deal.

If there was a frustating part, it’s that the Caps didn’t play well. They were susceptible defensively as they’ve been lately. However, they had more healthy bodies and did what they had to to get the win.