Rangers, Igor Shesterkin destroyed by Sabers

This hasn't happened often in recent years.

The Rangers had suffered a loss of this magnitude only once in the last 175 games of the regular season.

That lasted until the Blueshirts' complete collapse on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, where the home team looked small and dissatisfied in a 6-1 loss to the young Sabers.

This was a defeat that not even an 8-3-1 record could mitigate.

The defensive disruption, the offensive disruption and the general lack of urgency should ring like three separate alarm bells in the Rangers' locker room.

It's still too early in the season for the Rangers to be playing cruise control.

There are 70 games left.

But that was the energy the Rangers exuded in front of their home crowd, who headed for the exits early as this certainly wasn't a game worth sticking around for on a school night.

The Rangers are still missing that “pop,” as head coach Peter Laviolette described it.

In most cases, their mishaps in the defensive zone end up in the net.

Igor Shesterkin has been a band-aid for this Rangers team lately, but the Rangers goaltender hasn't been able to cover up his teammates' mistakes this time around.

After conceding a rare soft goal 26 seconds into the game, Shesterkin was eventually pulled in favor of Jonathan Quick after conceding five goals on 12 shots.

This was a glimpse of what the Rangers could look like when their star goaltender's brilliance wanes.

Incidentally, Shesterkin, who has otherwise performed excellently recently, says that there is nothing new to report regarding his contract negotiations.