Rangers outclassed late by NHL-leading Jets for fourth straight loss as playoff race tightens

The losses have piled up for the Rangers once again.

Falling 2-1 to the NHL-leading Jets on Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre, the Blueshirts have dropped four in a row for the third time this season and the first time since Dec. 22-30.

One more loss and they will tie their season-high five-game losing skid from Nov. 21-29.

“It sucks, I mean, we’re in a playoff fight right now,” Will Borgen said. “We’re battling for every point. When you don’t get the outcome you want, it sucks. But I think that’s part of a long season, too. You’re going go through these droughts, but we got to string along some wins if we want to make playoffs.”

This was a scoreboard-watching night for the Rangers, who only squeezed two overtime loser points out of their last four contests.

The Blue Jackets, who are two points ahead and await the Rangers at the end of the week, lost to the Devils, who managed to stay in third place in the Metropolitan Division despite the Senators winning, as well.

Boston beat the Panthers to tie the Rangers (game in hand) at 68 points in the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

The Canadiens joined the tie for two points out of the second spot when they beat the Canucks, 4-2, on Tuesday night.

It was just another night when the Rangers didn’t do their playoff hopes any favors.

Gabriel Vilardi (13) celebrates his goal with Mark Scheifele (55) and Cole Perfetti (91) during the second period of the Rangers’ 2-1 road loss to the Jets on March 11, 2025.

For an example on how to close out games, the Rangers need look no further than the team at the other end of the ice Tuesday night.

The Jets limited the Rangers to just five shots on goal and two high-danger chances through the final 20 minutes of regulation, per Natural Stat Trick.

Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck was also stellar, stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced and standing tall when the Rangers pulled Igor Shesterkin for the six-on-five advantage.

“We were pushing, especially in the last 20 minutes, but came up short,” Braden Schneider said. “I thought we had a lot of good chances. I thought we had a really good effort, just couldn’t come up with any.”

Vladislav Namestnikov scores the opening goal in the first period of the Rangers’ road loss to the Jets.

Coming off a dismal defensive effort against Columbus, the Rangers were more encouraged by their performance Tuesday night against one of the most dominant teams this season.

The Jets slipped right around and behind the Rangers on their first goal of the game, which was just another example of how fragile their defensive structure has been lately.

Shesterkin slid all the way out to contest Cole Perfetti, who dished to former Blueshirt Vladislav Namestnikov for a wide-open shot.

Mika Zibanejad celebrates game-tying goal in the first period of the Rangers’ road loss to the Jets.

Shesterkin had to make 10 saves in the opening 20 minutes alone on the way to 22 on the night.

Earning a power play after Nino Niederreiter ripped K’Andre Miller’s helmet off, the Rangers scored just their second goal with the man-advantage in the past eight games.

J.T. Miller fed Mika Zibanejad for his fifth power-play goal of the season, which also counted as his 106th with the Rangers and tied Brian Leetch for the fourth-most power-play goals in franchise history.

Gabriel Vilardi (13) is congratulated by his teammates on his goal against Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin during the second period of the Rangers’ road loss to the Jets.

Despite outshooting the home team 8-6 through the second period, the Rangers fell behind by a goal.

Winnipeg capitalized on one of their three power-play opportunities in the middle frame, with Perfetti connecting with Gabriel Vilardi in tight for the 2-1 lead.

They nearly made it a 3-1 game on a Dylan DeMelo one-timer from the high slot early in the third period, but the Rangers successfully challenged for goaltender interference.

The equalizer, however, never came for the Blueshirts.

“There’s no consolation in that at this point of the season,” head coach Peter Laviolette said of the improved effort. “We need wins, we need points. It’s frustrating, for sure. Our guys did play hard tonight, couldn’t get it to swing our way.”