Rangers get glimpse of what could spoil all the good feelings

PHILADELPHIA — Well, at least Henrik Lundqvist was able to practice making snow angels.

With the onset of winter upon us, that represents the most constructive use of essentially any Ranger’s time here Friday afternoon, the goaltender set upon through most of the match in a 4-0 defeat to the Flyers that served as a cold dose of reality.

From the get-go, the Blueshirts barely had enough jump to clear the blue and red lines painted onto the ice. They were disjointed and careless with the puck in all three zones facing a Philadelphia team that had lost four straight and had backup to the backup to the backup Calvin Pickard in nets.

“We had a lot of guys not skating and a lot of guys not doing things together,” Marc Staal said after the paddy whacking that put a halt to the club’s 9-1-1 joyride. “We were disconnected. We didn’t have a lot of fire or energy to do what you need to do to win a hockey game and they did. It was pretty evident all game.”

There were boo-boos galore in this one that somehow was 1-0 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the contest. Somehow? Lundqvist was how, the netminder turning aside a bevy of Flyers’ chances that came on odd-man rushes following unthinking (or cavalier) plays at the other end of the ice.

“Maybe after we got five against the Islanders [on Wednesday] we got away from [our] identity and forgot who we are,” coach David Quinn said after the lopsided defeat. “I think we gave up more odd-man rushes than we had the last four or five games combined. We were doing things with the puck we don’t normally do.“Over 82 games you’re going to have your stinkers. I put this in the stinker category.”

The Rangers hadn’t played so poorly since their Oct. 24, 4-1 defeat in Chicago in the season’s 10th game. The Blueshirts went 8:39 without a shot in the first period against the Flyers after Kevin Hayes’ right circle wrister at 3:07.

They forced all of three offensive-zone faceoffs in the first period — curiously, Quinn sent his fourth line on to take them all — while the Flyers had 12 in the Rangers’ end. The shots for the period were 15-8 for the black hats, the five-on-five attempts, 28-10.

“We weren’t skating and we got away from the stuff we do well,” Chris Kreider said. “You have to give them credit, too, they did a good job of clogging the middle, but we just never really seemed to be in the right spot to support each other.

“It wasn’t that we didn’t work hard. We never not work hard. But we didn’t work smart.”

The Flyers, 9-10-2 entering the contest, had fallen behind by four goals in each of their previous two games. They grabbed the lead in this one at 13:21 of the first. Lundqvist steered a rebound of Travis Konecny’s odd-man rush, right-wing shot off Brady Skjei at the left porch as No. 76 defended against the encroaching Sean Couturier. It was the first five-on-five goal the Rangers had allowed in their last three games.

“Sometimes it’s better to give up a bad rebound and kick it straight out than try to put it in the corner when someone is at the side like that,” said the goaltender, who allowed three goals on a season-high 45 shots against, with the other tally into the empty-net. “That can be risky.”

That risk paled in comparison to the risks taken by the Rangers, who somehow were still just one shot away from tying it deep into the third period. In fact, they almost did tie it.

Lias Andersson was sent in alone by Steven Fogarty with 5:56 to play, but Pickard got his pad down off a deke to foil the Swede. Less than 20 seconds later, Tony DeAngelo hit the far post from the right side. Alas, the Flyers struck on a late-developing odd-man counter when Couturier converted at 14:39 to make it 2-0 and put it to bed.

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“I know that games can change, even if you have a tough first half or first two periods,” Lundqvist said. “But what [bothered me] is that we kept taking chances when it was a one-goal game. When you keep taking chances and give odd-man rushes, you’re going to pay for it in the end, and we did.”

The power play, a 7-for-23 weapon over the previous seven games, mustered just three shots while going 0-for-3 in 6:00. Either with the man-advantage or five-on-five, the Rangers could not apply meaningful sustained pressure. This was just not their day.

Saturday afternoon, the Capitals come to the Garden. Resilience and fiber will be tested as the 12-9-2 Blueshirts seek to minimize the effects of this one.

“We know it will be a better effort and we’re looking forward to getting back out there,” Staal said. “That’s the sign of a confident team. We’re better than this.”