Rangers still searching for answers after Tuesday night's no-show home loss to Calgary

GREENBURGH — Explanations were not forthcoming.

Because, to a man, the Rangers were still unsure about the mechanics of what had transpired on the Garden ice not 24 hours earlier.

What they are acutely aware of, though, is that with 13 games left in what has been a remarkably turbulent season, time is of the essence. And performances like Tuesday night’s 2-1 loss to the Flames, in which the Rangers were booed off the ice, cannot be replicated.

Not if qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs is among their aspirations.

“We’re fighting for our lives here and we really can’t have efforts like that,” Alexis Lafreniere told Newsday following an optional practice Wednesday afternoon at the MSG Training Center. “We have to come out right from the start and work as hard as we can and compete as a team.

“That’s not what we did yesterday.”

No, it most certainly was not.

Over the course of the match against the Western Conference playoff hopeful, the Rangers were shockingly disjointed as they were outshot 35-13 and out-attempted 64-48.

Their 13 shots were the second-fewest in a game this season, ahead of only the 12 shots Jacob Markstrom faced in the Rangers’ 5-0 loss to the Devils at the Prudential Center on Dec. 23.

“We came out a little flat,” Braden Schneider said. “We just weren’t executing the way we wanted to.”

 The loss, in conjunction with Montreal’s 6-3 win over Ottawa, meant the Canadiens (73 points) passed the Rangers (72) for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.

Equally problematic was that the Islanders’ 4-2 comeback win over the Penguins in Pittsburgh allowed them to close within two points of the Rangers. And the Islanders (70 points) have two games in hand.

As do the Canadiens and Blue Jackets (70 points). The Red Wings (70) have one game in hand, while the Bruins (69) have played the same amount of games.

In short, it was a fairly significant misstep at the time of year that playoff contenders use to prepare themselves for the meaningful games in April and May and June.

“We were off the mark and it was a disappointing game for us,” Schneider said. “It’s obviously a big two points that we missed out on. All we can do is turn the page and look to tomorrow.”

In which the quality of competition rises as the Rangers (33-30-6) host the Maple Leafs, who were 40-24-3 entering Wednesday.

“We have to work better,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We have to lead with more speed and attitude than what we did last night. We addressed those things and moved on.”