The resolve and resiliency the Rangers have shown in the previous few weeks came out too little, too late in a 5-2 loss to the Penguins at Madison Square Garden, bringing the Blueshirts’ impressive five-game win streak to a halt.
It was the Rangers’ fifth loss since the start of March, when the club went 10-3-1 while facing some of the top teams in the NHL.
The Penguins, who were ranked 22nd in the league and second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division at the start of the game, are not the team they were just two seasons ago — when they lost a 3-1 series lead on the Rangers in the first round of the 2022 playoffs.
But Pittsburgh looked like a team fighting for its pride, while the Rangers didn’t look like they were fighting for anything at all.
“It seemed like it wasn’t our night overall,” Jimmy Vesey said. “Can’t spot a team two goals and expect to win in this league. I think going down two that early kind of changes the whole dynamic of the game. Just a few too many mistakes tonight.”
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