Rangers miss their chance to build on first-win momentum

The idea now is for the Rangers not to get too discouraged after a performance like this, a sleepy 2-1 loss to the Oilers on Saturday afternoon at the Garden that was at least a step in the right direction in terms of defending for 60 minutes.

But a loss is still a loss, and David Quinn’s Rangers (1-4-0) are looking like they’re going to have many more of them before this campaign is over. That fact hardly makes it any easier to swallow.

“You don’t want to start a season 1-4. Rather be 5-0. But we have to stick together,” center Kevin Hayes told The Post. “We can’t start pointing fingers. I think last year, when things went bad, it was every man for himself. Now, we have to stick together.”

This is not last year, when the Blueshirts began unraveling as part of the rebuilding plan set forth by the front office. Instead, this is a time when the team is supposed to be showing signs of a foundation under first-year headman Quinn, who himself isn’t letting these losses pile up without a big helping of acrimony.

“I wouldn’t say I’m happy, but I’m happy with some of the progress,” said Quinn, who picked up his first win with a 3-2 overtime victory against the Sharks on Thursday night, a game that was so ripe with defensive blunders that Quinn joked it almost drove him to sell insurance.

“We didn’t score goals,” he added. “We have to have more of a tenacity in the offensive zone.”

In a game that is hardly going to be remembered for its excitement, the Rangers did have their chances while putting 24 shots on old buddy Cam Talbot — who picked up his first win against his former team in his fifth game against them. But Mika Zibanejad’s goal at 12:49 of the first to make it 1-0 was the only Rangers shot that went in, and he was still hearing the ringing of the two pipes he hit with other chances in what was his best game of the season, alongside Chris Kreider and Jesper Fast.

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“It’s unfortunate,” Zibanejad said. “I thought we did some good things out there … I thought we had plenty of chances to put this one away. We just have to work on that.”

The Rangers’ lead lasted just 87 seconds before Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored on a loose puck in front to make it 1-1. Then 6:23 into the third, Connor McDavid scored a power-play goal on a deft sharp-angle backhand that beat goalie Henrik Lundqvist for the winner.

“He had a little time, so he kind of froze me,” Lundqvist said.

There were a couple calls that could have gone either way, with Hayes getting pulled down by Jason Garrison early in the third, followed later in the period with what seemed like it could have been a delay of game on Oilers defenseman Adam Larsson.

But as Hayes noted about the officiating, “throughout the season, it can get either way.” The one things the Rangers do want to make sure of is that they take less penalties, with the four minors they took on the day stifling any ability to keep offensive momentum.

“I felt like there were a couple times where we could make a push and then we take another penalty,” said Lundqvist, who was stellar again in making 25 saves in his fourth start of the first five games. “We will look at this in a couple of days and regroup and get ready for next week.”

That would be when the Blueshirts play the Avalanche at home on Tuesday night before traveling to meet the defending Stanley Cup champion Capitals the following night. After this start, it’s hard to see a stretch conducive to the Rangers turning this around.

“We still have core guys here that have been through the ups and downs. We have to stick together,” Hayes said. “You don’t want to be 1-4, but that’s what we are right now.”