Rangers outplayed by Lightning in another 'unacceptable' no-show on home ice

Rangers outplayed by Lightning in another 'unacceptable' no-show on home ice

Rangers outplayed by Lightning in another 'unacceptable' no-show on home ice

Rangers outplayed by Lightning in another 'unacceptable' no-show on home ice

Just when it appeared the Rangers were back in a groove, they returned home.

New York’s three-game winning streak was quickly snapped as they were outworked and outplayed in an ugly 4-1 loss to the red hot Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday afternoon.

“There was no urgency,” captain J.T. Miller said.

“We got outcompeted from the puck drop,” head coach Mike Sullivan added.

The Blueshirts did indeed come out flat a day after dominating the Boston Bruins for their league-best 11th road win on Friday. In fact, they didn't record a shot on goal until midway through the opening frame in this one.

They would be outshot 11-2 and quickly found themselves trailing by a goal after 20 minutes.

Lightning leading-scorer Brandon Hagel found the back of the net again to make it 2-0 midway through the second, but Miller finally got New York on the board with three minutes remaining in the period, cutting the lead in half.

But even in a one-goal game it was all Tampa Bay from there, as Nick Paul increased the lead two minutes into the third. Later, Jake Guentzel would bury an empty-netter to put the finishing touches on the victory.

And if not for Igor Shesterkin’s terrific play between the pipes this one could’ve been even uglier as the Rangers were outshot 35-13 on the afternoon.

They fell to a franchise-worst 2-8-1 on home ice, and have scored one or fewer goals in eight of those games.

“It’s unacceptable, not nearly good enough,” Miller said. “For some reason, we were content with not bringing our ‘A’ game. It’s disappointing and it starts with me, I gotta be better and lead better -- we can’t have this anymore.”

Miller is right, the Blueshirts can't afford to have these home woes prolong any further.

After a road-heavy start to the season they’ll open December by playing eight of their next 11 games on home ice, beginning Tuesday night against the high-powered Dallas Stars.

“It’s just focusing on one game at a time,” Vincent Trocheck said. “This game is a majority mental, it’s up to you to fight off the negativity when it creeps in -- it’s just a matter of us going out and playing the game the right way.”