Rangers tie it in third but lose lead minutes later in defeat to Maple Leafs

In their first game without Adam Fox, who went on injured reserve Wednesday with an upper body injury, the Rangers tried to cover for the loss of their power-play point man by putting together a first power play unit that had five forwards and no defensemen on it.

But the special teams unit failed on all three opportunities it had Friday night in the Rangers’ 3-2 loss to the Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden.

With 23 games remaining in the regular season, the Rangers (29-26-4, 62 points) remain four points behind the Blue Jackets and Red Wings for the two wild card spots in the Eastern Conference.

Trailing, 2-1 entering the third period, the Rangers tied it on a shorthanded goal by Will Cuylle at 3:47. But a defensive mixup that saw both defensemen caught behind the goal line, led to Matthew Knies driving the slot to tap in a feed from Auston Matthews for the go-ahead goal at 6:21.

The Rangers, who outshot the Maple Leafs 34-17, had a golden chance to tie it again when William Nylander, whose goal in the second period put Toronto ahead 2-1, was sent off for a high sticking penalty against Ryan Lindgren.

The Rangers spent most of the first period in the Toronto zone for long stretches and outshooting them 14-5.

They were behind early, however, as Mika Zibanejad was called for tripping Matthews 18 seconds in, and Oliver Ekman-Larsson blasted a one-timer past Igor Shesterkin at 1:47. It was the 21st time in 59 games this season that they have allowed a goal within the first five minutes.

But Zibanejad redeemed himself by tipping in a shot from Will Borgen to tie it at 1 at 13:08. It was Zibanejad’s 13th goal of the season, third in the last five games and 12th point in the nine games since the Rangers acquired J.T. Miller and coach Peter Laviolette put the duo on the same line.

Nylander scored on a funky-looking play at 52 seconds of the second period. The puck was cleared into the Toronto zone and two players, Mitch Marner and Pontus Holmberg, went to the Maple Leafs bench for a change. A couple of Rangers decided to change at that point, too. But Holmberg jumped back on the ice and Nylander did too, just as Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe corralled the puck and whipped it up ice. The pass hit Nylander in stride and Toronto had a 3-on-1 break. Vincent Trocheck hustled back and got his stick on Nylander’s stick, preventing a shot, but the puck slid off Nylander’s skate and off the post. As he skated past it, Trocheck tried to tuck the puck underneath Shesterkin, but in trying to cover it with his glove, Shesterkin inadvertently knocked the puck over the goal line.