For the sixth straight time, the Rangers lost a hockey game. By falling to the Leafs in a much more competitive 4-3 defeat, they clinched a second consecutive playoff miss.

Unlike Monday night, when the Senators held them to a season-low 10 shots, the Rangers played much better tonight. However, despite outshooting the Leafs 43-18, they were unable to overcome a bad first period.

Wednesday marked the NHL debut of Adam Sykora. Wearing number 38, the 21-year-old forward took regular shifts with Vincent Trocheck and Will Cuylle. He didn’t look out of place for his first game, finishing with three shots, seven attempts, and a minus-2 in 13:33 of ice time. There’s no reason the 2022 second round pick shouldn’t get into more games down the stretch.

Inexplicably, Mike Sullivan scratched Adam Edstrom and had Jonny Brodzinski center the fourth line. At this point, it should be all about playing the younger players on the roster.

Another mystifying lineup decision saw recently signed defenseman Drew Fortescue remain in the press box. The whole point of burning a year off his entry-level contract is to get him into games. Instead, Sullivan had Braden Schneider back with Will Borgen, while Matthew Robertson worked with Vincent Iorio, who finally returned to the lineup.

The Rangers started the game much better than the other night. They got shots through on Joseph Woll and generated chances off the forecheck.

However, a bad bounce allowed Jake McCabe to get his fourth from directly in front, set up from Matias Maccelli and Dakota Joshua.

A turnover inside the Toronto blue line led to Max Domi skating in transition and finding Nick Robertson for a quick snapshot past Igor Shesterkin that made it 2-0. It was one he’d want back.

In the second period, Shesterkin let in another bad goal when Joshua beat him from the left circle with a wrist shot to make it 3-0. He wasn’t sharp throughout, getting caught off his angle on three of four Leafs goals.

The Rangers picked up their play to get back in it. They got it done on the power play thanks to the skill of their new number one line. On a play that Adam Fox started, J.T. Miller passed in front for Alexis Lafreniere, who made a power move and sweet finish to cut it to 3-1.

They closed to within one late in the period. After Cuylle drew a slashing minor on Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Lafreniere set up Mika Zibanejad for his team-leading 31st with 1:59 left. A game after being honored for playing in his 1,000th career game, Zibanejad passed Adam Graves for fourth on the Rangers all-time franchise goal scoring list with his 281st.

It was a beautiful pass from Lafreniere, who continues to excel with Zibanejad and rookie Gabe Perreault. The cohesive trio dominated most of their shifts against the Leafs. They’d hook up for a nice goal in the third period.

Despite continuing to control most of the play in the third, one mistake proved costly. After a loose puck went by Cuylle, John Tavares retrieved it and made a nice individual effort to score his 26th unassisted. It was another one that caught Shesterkin leaning, which made it a two-goal game.

Over a minute later, the Blueshirts struck back thanks to some stellar passing from their number one line. After Lafreniere moved the puck ahead for Perreault, he made a perfect centering feed that Zibanejad finished in front for number 32 to make it 4-3 with 6:56 remaining.

Lafreniere created another opportunity for himself by coming into the Leafs zone and getting a good low shot on Woll that he stopped.

With time winding down, Fox got the puck over for a Zibanejad one-timer that didn’t find the net. The Leafs closed it out to hang on for the win.