Rangers fall to Avalanche, 3-1, as power play comes up empty

With Marian Gaborik sidelined, last night could be a glimpse of Rangers hockey for the next month: digging for goals and forcing Henrik Lundqvist to play almost error-free.

Facing the Colorado Avalanche, who were on their final game of a five-game road trip, the Rangers struggled to create offense with their reshuffled lines and went 0-for-5 on the power play, including a 1:41 stretch to start the third period with the score tied at 1.

And for the third consecutive game in the final period, a Rangers opponent capitalized on the Blueshirts' penalty kill, which was 13-for-17 coming into the game, tied for 24th in the league. Chris Stewart added two more to that total on three chances, leaving the Blueshirts at a very weak 14-for-20, 70 percent and on the short end of a 3-1 loss.

The roof fell in quickly.

With Michael Del Zotto in the box for tripping at 5:51 of the third, defenseman Steve Eminger left the crease to chase Paul Stastny behind the goal line, Stewart was left standing alone in front for his second goal of the game at 7:20, and 26 seconds later, Daniel Winnik's backhander made it 3-1 as the Rangers fell to 1-2-1.

The penalty kill "is not getting the job done. I think we were a little better tonight in not taking so many penalties, but when we did, it's costing us," said Marc Staal, who was named an alternate captain before the game. "You can't win consistently if your special teams aren't there."

The power play also is hurting, with no goals in three of the four games and six minutes of power-play time wasted in the third. "We had no momentum off our power play and they score," John Tortorella said.

Try as they might, the Rangers had trouble finishing without Gaborik, who scored 42 goals last season, about 20 percent of their total. Alex Frolov, who signed a one-year, $3-million free-agent deal after thriving with the Los Angeles Kings, will be carrying the load without Gaborik and scored his first goal as a Ranger at 18:09 of the first period to square the score after Stewart's first had given the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 12:41.

On a two-on-one, Frolov raced down the right side and fired on Craig Anderson, who snagged only a piece of the puck and Staal tucked it just after it crossed the line at 18:09.

As it turned out, that was the extent of the Rangers' scoring. Girardi's slapper from the point rang the post on the Rangers' third power play midway through the second. But the forward trios (Erik Christensen-Derek Stepan-Frolov and Brandon Dubinsky-Artem Anisimov-Ryan Callahan) could not consistently penetrate the Avalanche defense or Anderson.

Asked if the loss reminded him of frustrating stretches last season, Lundqvist, who made 31 saves, said: "It's early, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. We have to find ways to win. I have to play better and cut down on a goal or two. Although they didn't have that many chances, they moved the puck well.

"We just have to keep working, that's our only option right now. We can't really focus on who's out. Obviously, it's key players, but there's nothing we can do right now."