Struggling Rangers finding different ways to lose, don't have answers

ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Rangers do not seem to have any answers right now.

The scene in the Blueshirts’ locker room after Saturday night’s 2-1 loss to the struggling Kings in goalie Jonathan Quick’s return to Los Angeles was one of pure frustration.

Players spoke in monotone voices and eyes glazed over about the loss — and the mounting losses.

“Well, we just lost a game, so there should be frustration, and probably guys are [ticked] off,’’ a grim-faced coach Peter Laviolette said.

The 18-4-1 start is well behind the Rangers now. They were 10-11-1 in their previous 22 entering Sunday’s game against the lowly Ducks, the third game of their four-game West Coast road trip. The Rangers lost the first two games of the trip.

And just as they were finding all kinds of different ways to win when they were hot, they now are finding all kinds of different ways to lose.

When they were going through a tough stretch just before the trip began, the prevailing theme most nights was that the Rangers were outshooting opponents and not giving up many scoring chances against. But the chances they did allow were, in Laviolette’s words, “loud.’’ And opponents were taking advantage.

Against the Kings, that wasn’t the case. The Rangers didn’t generate much offense and never seemed in control. From the time of defenseman K’Andre Miller’s partial breakaway chance at 3:51 of the first period until Jacob Trouba’s blast from the blue line on a power play at 6:16 of the second, the Rangers went 22 minutes, 25 seconds without a shot on goal.

“We’re going through it a little bit right now,’’ Trouba said. “There’s no magic answer to get out of this. I think we just have to look at each other. We’ve all got to try to bring a little more. The work is there, it’s just, we’re fighting to get the result.’’

Laviolette’s spin Saturday night, and the team’s overall message, was that the Rangers — outshot 12-2 in the first period against a Kings squad that had been 1-5-4 in its previous 10 games — started poorly but played fine the last two periods.

His argument was that, after being thoroughly outplayed and allowing a goal in the last minute of the first period by Kevin Fiala, the Rangers played the Kings evenly after that. They tied it at 1-1 on a pretty goal by Chris Kreider (set up by Adam Fox) in the second period before giving up the winner late in the period to Quinton Byfield.

But the Rangers produced only 23 shots on goal and their top three forwards — Artemi Panarin, Vincent Trocheck and Mika Zibanejad — had only one each. And in a one-goal game, the power play went 0-for-3, including coming up empty on a six-on-four advantage in the final 1:37. That included Alexis Lafreniere, who had a golden opportunity to tie it late while all alone at the side of the net but couldn’t lift a rebound over David Rittich’s left pad.

The power play entered Sunday’s game in second place in the league at a 28.1% success rate, but it was 2-for-16 (12.5%) in the previous five games.

At 28-15-2 entering Sunday’s game, the Rangers were clinging to first place in the Metropolitan Division by the slimmest of margins. They held a two-point lead (58-56) over Philadelphia going into Sunday, with Carolina one point behind the Flyers before its home game against the Minnesota Wild. The Flyers lost in regulation to the Ottawa Senators on Sunday at home.

“It’s a game of inches right now, and bounces,’’ Miller said. “And it just seems like they’re not going our way.’’

Trouba was asked how the Rangers can get out of this funk.

“Work out of it,’’ he said. “No one’s feeling bad for us . . . When adversity faces you, I think people deal with it in different ways, and I think everyone’s got to bring a little bit more . . . It’s not a matter of not getting the opportunities or getting way outplayed . . . These are pretty close games. We’re just not capitalizing.

“And I mean, it’s frustrating. But the only way to get through it is continue to work.’’

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.