The Rangers’ plummet continued Sunday night with a 3-2 loss to the Blues at Enterprise Center after yet another last-ditch effort to salvage a game in the third period was unsuccessful.
A two-goal flurry in the span of 1:18 may have erased the gap on the scoreboard, but it did not minimize the Rangers’ inability to put up any fight at all through the first 50 minutes of the game.
“I don’t even know how to describe the feeling right now,” Adam Fox said when asked how much of this slide — now four losses in the last five games and 10 in the last 13 — has become mental for the Rangers. “It’s definitely not good. We talk; we talk as a group and say to just try and be engaged. It definitely wears on you when you’re in kind of a streak like this.”
Robert Thomas celebrates after scoring during the Blues’ victory against the Rangers on Dec. 15.
Peter Laviolette has reached the lineup blender part of the program, though there were other factors at work when it came to the alignment the Rangers head coach deployed Sunday.
While Artemi Panarin was sidelined with an upper-body injury, Kaapo Kakko was also held out of the lineup despite being healthy, according to a source.
It’s possible Kakko’s scratching was for the same “roster management” reason the Rangers cited when Jacob Trouba was traded to Anaheim earlier this month.
With all the trade rumors coming out of New York lately, there’s a chance something could brew eventually, but as of Sunday night, there was no indication a trade for Kakko was in the works, according to a league source.
Laviolette said the decision to scratch Kakko was about “putting fresh legs in the lineup.”
The 24-year-old Finn probably has some of the highest trade value on the Rangers right now.
Plus, the one-year, $2.4 million extension he signed with the Blueshirts this past offseason is one of the easier contracts to move on the team. It’s also been a solid start to the season for Kakko, who made Team Finland for the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off tournament.
The Rangers’ deteriorating play is just begging for more personnel changes.
Chris Kreider controls the puck during the Rangers’ loss to the Blues on Dec. 15.
Despite the leadership group addressing the team after Saturday’s 5-1 defeat to the Kings, there is belief that the solution will not unfold in the locker room. Rather, it’s something that must be fixed on the ice.
“Right now, we’re not in our best moment,” said Filip Chytil, who earned a secondary assist on Will Cuylle’s goal after Brett Berard ignited the Rangers’ third-period rally. “We just have to find a way to get out. It’s not going to take one day or two days, we got to keep grinding and find a way to get the first win.”
The playing field couldn’t have been more even Sunday, with both teams playing the second night of a back-to-back slate
And yet, the Blues — like most of the Rangers’ opponents lately — had more energy and executed their game plan much more effectively through the first two periods.
Jordan Kyrou celebrates his goal against the Rangers during the Blues’ win on Dec. 15.
St. Louis relentlessly pounced on pucks all night, retrieving them multiple times in the offensive zone in order to generate second and third chances and extend possession time.
Repeatedly getting the puck to the middle of the ice, the Blues continuously created scoring opportunities for themselves before former Ranger Pavel Buchnevich put one away at the end of the first period to take a 1-0 lead.
The Rangers outshot the home team in each of the first two periods, but St. Louis was the only team to break through.
The quality of the Rangers’ shots was far more notable than the quantity. St. Louis finished the game with a 7-2 edge in high-danger chances, according to Natural Stat Trick, while the Rangers failed to register a single one in the middle frame.
Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues scores a goal against Jonathan Quick of the New York Rangers on December 15, 2024.
Getting up for games during this brutal stretch has proved to be difficult for the Rangers, but a third-period rally hardly ever matters if it doesn’t result in a victory and two points.
“This room, we know we have a good team,” Alexis Lafreniere said. “We’re going through a tough stretch right now, but we know we have the guys to win games and be a good team. We just have to believe in our group and keep competing and get out of it as a team.”
