PITTSBURGH — The Rangers continue to slide into the Olympic break.
In their second-to-last contest before the NHL pauses for 19 days, the Blueshirts showed little to no motivation in participating in what turned out to be their 14th loss — 6-5 at the hands of the Penguins – in their last 18 games Saturday evening.
A reprieve can’t come soon enough for this Rangers team, which looked like it wanted to be anywhere but the PPG Paints Arena ice for 40 of 60 minutes.
It’s been well over a month since the Rangers last won two in a row.
Getting up for games has clearly been a struggle amid the organization’s public plans to retool the roster, but the body language exuded by certain players over this stretch paints a disconcerting picture for the foreseeable future.
The Rangers’ current situation should not preclude them from skating with pride.
And yet opponents have feasted on their insecurities on a game-to-game basis.
The Penguins have been one of the hottest teams in the NHL since the end of December.
After members of the 2016 Stanley Cup-winning team were honored in a pregame ceremony, which included Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan and the currently injured Conor Sheary, the energy in the building was palpable from puck drop to the final whistle.
Entering the matinee matchup on a five-game win streak, Pittsburgh picked up where it left off and scored on two of its first four shots.
The multi-goal lead was built just over six minutes into the contest, leaving the Rangers in what has been a familiar position this season: chasing from behind.
At a time when attention has shifted to the Rangers youth, the first period was concerning in more ways than one.
Noah Laba, who missed three games earlier this month with an upper-body injury, absorbed a hit in the corner and was slow to the bench.
After trying to skate it off during the TV timeout, Laba reached for his shoulder and headed to the locker room.
Despite returning for one shift in the second period, Laba was ruled out for the remainder of the game with an upper-body injury.
Injury aside, it was a particularly tough opening frame for Scott Morrow.
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The Rangers rookie defenseman committed a costly turnover that led to the Penguins first goal before getting called for a late penalty.
Matt Rempe was also on the ice for both of the Penguins’ first two goals.
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On the second one, Penguins forward Blake Lizotte took the puck right off Rempe’s stick.
After that, Sullivan only deployed Rempe for one more shift in the first period.
The Rangers didn’t get on the board until there were just over 1:30 remaining in the second period, but it came on their first shot of the period.
They were limited to just two shots on goal in the middle frame.
Alexis Lafrenière snapped a seven-game scoring drought with a goal during four-on-three play, which counted as the first of the Rangers’ four-goal final frame.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the span of 20 seconds in the third period.
After capitalizing on Will Cuylle’s holding penalty at the tail end of the middle frame, the Penguins got a second goal from Noel Acciari.
