DOWN TO EARTH: Alexander Semin takes down Brian Boyle during yesterday’s 3-2 loss at Verizon Center. Boyle and the Rangers managed just 20 shots on goal in Game 4. (AP)
WASHINGTON — Throughout the vagaries of officiating calls on and off the ice that have marked the playoffs, there has been one constant that applies to the Rangers—the team’s inability to generate offense.
The Rangers have been limited to two goals or fewer eight times in 11 games (and eight of the last 10), including yesterday’s 3-2 Game 4 defeat to the Capitals that emptied the reservoir of good feelings that flowed from Wednesday’s triple-overtime victory, and it squared the Eastern Conference semifinals 2-2 with the best-of-seven resuming tomorrow night at the Garden.
In losing two of the past three games, the Rangers have held the lead for a grand total of 4:29, that coming during a second period stretch of Game 3. In the last round, Ottawa’s Craig Anderson played extremely well in goal to force the Rangers to seven games. In this round, Braden Holtby hasn’t had to be much better than good to split the four contests.
“We definitely have to do more offensively,” Brad Richards said after the defeat in which Mike Green scored the winner at 14:12 of the third period on a power play with Carl Hagelin in the box for slashing.
“We’re getting a good number of attempts, but they’re blocking a lot and we’re missing the net.”
The Rangers out-attempted the Capitals 52-40, but only were able to get 20 shots on Holtby, with Washington blocking 26 shots — nine by Jeff Schultz, who blundered on the Marian Gaborik second-period goal that tied the match 2-2 — to the Blueshirts’ unusually low seven for the afternoon.
“I think we can always get more shots, more traffic, things like that,” said Marc Staal, who logged a game-high 24:20 and was his team’s most imposing player. “I think we need to get in the goalie’s face more.”
The Rangers might have talked about not being tired following Wednesday’s 114:41 marathon, but their legs spoke differently during a first period in which they were outshot 14-3 and emerged down by only 1-0 because of Henrik Lundqvist’s brilliance.
Though the Rangers were much sharper in the second, they could not shake the Capitals, the period ending 2-2 after goals from Artem Anisimov and Marian Gaborik.
That also was the period during which Alexander Ovechkin nailed Dan Girardi with a blow to the head at 12:17, but even though No. 8 left his feet to deliver the hit, he received just a two minute minor for charging and will not face a league review, even as a would-be repeat offender.
It was also the period in which the Rangers generated one shot while failing on two power plays.
Regardless, it was 2-2 deep into the third, when Washington’s John Carlson drew a penalty at 13:45 by dropping his stick following the Hagelin hack one shift after no call was made when Ovechkin broke Boyle’s stick with a slash, a reversal of fortune that infuriated the Rangers.
Remember, the Rangers previously lost Game 2 on Ovechkin’s power-play goal with 7:27 remaining in regulation and Richards in the box for holding.
“No matter what reason, we can’t give them two power plays late in games like we have,” Richards said. “We can’t.”
Chris Kreider, defensively deficient on each of the Capitals’ first two goals, was benched in the third, getting one brief shift midway through the period in which the Rangers had just six shots and just two over the final 8:28 as the Rangers primarily leaned on five forwards but hardly threatened.
So now it’s a best-of-three confronting the Rangers with two at home, just as it was in the first round against the Senators.
Now it is a best-of-three for the team that is unbeaten when scoring at least three goals. But the problem is, they have done that just three times.
larry brooks@nypost.com