Rangers fall short against Oilers at Garden

The process was right.

The result was not.

And the problem is, with 14 games remaining in what has been a roller coaster season, there is no time for moral victories. Not for a team in the midst of a desperate playoff push.

Alas, that is where the Rangers find themselves following a 3-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden Sunday night.

The loss dropped the Rangers to 33-29-6 (72 points) and ended their two-game winning streak. The Rangers had not won three-in-a-row since mid-November.

Moreover, the regulation defeat cost them a chance to close to within three points of Ottawa (77 points) for the first wild card slot in the Eastern Conference and four points of the Devils (78 points) for third in the Metropolitan Division.

And what will linger is that the Rangers essentially played the star-laden Oilers (39-24-4, 82 points) to a standstill for much of the contest as the teams entered the third tied at 1-1.

And it stayed that way until Viktor Arvidsson surprised Igor Shesterkin (20 saves) with a shot high to the glove side that eluded the Rangers’ goaltender.

While the Oilers celebrated, Shesterkin stared at the ceiling.

It was as if he was looking for an answer. One that was not forthcoming.

Neither was a tying goal when the Rangers were granted a power play three minutes after Arvidsson’s go-ahead goal early in the third. The Rangers could only muster two shots against Stuart Skinner (21 saves).

The Rangers trailed 1-0 after a penalty kill-intensive first period. The Rangers spent four minutes and 24 seconds of the opening 20 minute s shorthanded, and had successfully killed off penalties to Zac Jones (hooking at 4:37) and J.T. Miller (interference at 11:23). But 24 seconds after K’Andre Miller was called for hooking at 18:53, Corey Perry lifted a backhander over a prone Shesterkin to open the scoring.

Allowing the power-play goal late in the period was suboptimal for multiple reasons, not the least of which was that the Rangers had matched the Oilers shot-for-shot at five-on-five in the period. Both teams were credited with six shots on goal at even strength. But Edmonton had six more shots on their three power plays compared to the Rangers’ one on their only man advantage in the period.

The Rangers entered the contest 12th in the NHL in shots at five-on-five with 352 in the 17 games they have played since Feb. 1 according to NaturalStatTrick.com, and coach Peter Laviolette pointed to the Jan. 31 trade acquisition of J.T. Miller from Vancouver as being key.

“He’s a north-south guy,” Laviolette said before the game. “He’s been really good for our group to have him come in here and play the way he has and the attitude which he has, has been a real seamless fit.”

The Rangers’ newfound straight line approach paid off five minutes into the second period when Will Cuylle tied the game at 1-1 by poking a loose puck past Skinner for his 18th goal of the season.

Connor McDavid’s goal at 16:35 of the third ended the scoring.

Notes & quotes: D Carson Soucy, RW Arthur Kaliyev, D Calvin de Haan, and C Juuso Parssinen remained the scratches …The match against the Oilers was the start of a four-game homestand against Canadian teams. The Rangers play Calgary on Tuesday night, followed by Toronto on Thursday. They end the stretch with a Saturday matinee against Vancouver, which will be J.T. Miller’s first game against his former team.