The Rangers dropped their second straight contest, falling to the Islanders on Thursday at the Barclays Center. The Islanders, after surrendering 51 shots in a 4-1 loss to Columbus earlier in the week, allowed 50 shots, but Jaroslav Halak stoned all of them in the win. After winning two consecutive games following the “letter,” the Rangers are now on a similar streak in the other direction.

Game recap:



Halak turns into robo goalie and a combination of Martin Brodeur and Patrick Ry against the Blueshirts. The shutout was Halak's first of the season - and first of the year for the Islanders –as well as the 42nd of his NHL career. He's 13-1-0 in his past 14 head-to-head games with Henrik Lundqvist, and 17-7-0 with three shutouts in 25 games against the Rangers. The Islanders are 10-1-0 in their past 11 games against the Rangers, including 3-0-0 this season and 5-0-0 in Brooklyn, which has become the Ranger’ new house of horrors, possibly replacing the Bell Center.

Three turnovers resulted in three goals. On the first goal, Kevin Hayes’ turnover led to Brady Skjei’s penalty and Josh Bailey’s goal. Just 11 seconds into the man-advantage, Bailey made it 1-0, taking advantage of the space afforded by Nick Holden, who failed to close out, to sail a his wrist shot over Lundqvist's glove for his 15th goal at 4:53 of the first period.

The second, which really was the back-breaker, was first created by some good work down low by the Islanders. Lundqvist made several spectacular saves and the Rangers looked to be out of danger when they cleared the zone. But Cody McLeod turned the puck over just past the blue line to Mathew Barzal, who tormented the Rangers all night. Barzal found Nick Leddy, who dished it to Jordan Eberle, open thanks to a slow recovery by McLeod. Eberle made it 2-0 at 15:06 of the second period when he beating Lundqvist top shelf for his 20th goal, the fifth straight season he has at least reached that mark.

The sequence for the final tally was created by Tony DeAngelo’s turnover. After a save by Lundqvist, Thomas Hickey’s backhand attempt ticked off David Desharnais’ skate and went through Lundqvist’s pads as he sliding back into position. A dirty goal created by hard work while making their own luck, something the Rangers have lacked lately.

The Rangers, now 27-26-5, are last in the Metropolitan Division. They've lost nine of their past 12 games (3-9-0) and are 6-12-0 since January 3. With the win, the Islanders improved to 28-25-6 and moved within one point of the Carolina Hurricanes for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference. The spread between the two teams is just three points but looks more vast.

Much of the chatter on the blog was the lack of energy. The Rangers had 50 shots, and while not all were from high-danger spots, New York should have had three to four goals. I would love an energy player, someone who can carve out space with his physical play and possesses the offensive skill to take advantage of the space created. The lack of that player – and I hope Chris Kreider when he returns shows more of those skills – doesn’t mean the lacks energy. Last night, the turnovers once again were a killer, but good teams find a way to overcome them. Bad or mediocre teams do not, and lately, the Rangers have been mediocre at best.

Rangers may lack an elite talent, but to say they didn't play with heart or tried. I am sorry, we are all just choosing the easy rhetoric to fit into the view of blowing it up and dumping AV. Last night, the lack of energy wasn’t why they lost. Maybe it impacted the ability to create dirty goals, which are a result of effort – and some puck luck – not energy.

McLeod needs to sit, he adds nothing. Play Paul Carey and use him on a line with Jimmy Vesey or Jesper Fast or Peter Holland and Vinni Lettieri. I would call up Boo Nieves and have him on the fourth line. Once Pavel Buchnevich is able to play, sit Holland, who lacks the foot speed, and use Vesey-Carey-Fast as the fourth line, and Buch in the top-six or top-nine. Right now, New York is playing shorthanded, but sitting McLeod for Carey would definitely improve the lineup at least a little bit. That’s until the trades we expect to happen are made in the next 10 days, then we shall see where we land in terms of who is on this team.

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