RALEIGH, N.C. — If you’re searching for an explanation why the Rangers haven’t been able to solidify a playoff spot at this late date, then Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat to the Hurricanes should enlighten you.
The Blueshirts were barely in this one, outworked pretty much from beginning to end by the NHL’s 25th overall club, routinely beaten to the puck, for the puck and to the spot in a performance unworthy of a club engaged in a battle to qualify for the postseason.
“We pissed away two points because we didn’t work,” said an irritated coach Alain Vigneault. “I haven’t said that about this group, but right from the start our work ethic was not where it needs to be for us to have any chance.
“When we don’t get that, we’re a below average team.”
The Rangers are still in second place in the Metro Division, one point ahead of both the Blue Jackets and Flyers as they head west for matches Thursday and Friday in Minnesota and Winnipeg, respectively. But they are only three points up on the Devils and Red Wings for the conference’s final wild-card spot.
This lackluster and shoddy effort came out of nowhere — or from before Christmas — just two days after Sunday’s 3-0 Garden victory over the Red Wings marked one of the Blueshirts’ most complete performances of the season.
“Every night is a new challenge against a new team that we have to step up and meet,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who was abandoned in front much of the way. “I felt we made it a little too easy for them to get chances.
“We have to make better decisions with the puck, especially in our own end. We’re a skilled team but we still have to do the dirty work and make the right decisions.”
The tone was set immediately when Anton Stralman hooked Jordan Staal in a chase for the puck just 16 seconds into the match. The Rangers spent most of the night chasing — chasing the puck and the Hurricanes, and without much success.
The Stralman-Marc Staal defense pair struggled through a miserable night. Vigneault finally juggled his top two offensive lines and benched Carl Hagelin midway through the third after the Blueshirts — down 2-1 after two on a Jordan Staal goal at 18:18 of the second on a two-on-one with Marc Staal and the Derek Stepan-Rick Nash-Chris Kreider line caught up ice — recorded one shot in the first 13:28 of the final period.
“We didn’t have the right mentality or focus,” Ryan McDonagh told The Post. “We have to battle and make sure that we take care of our own end first. That has to be the priority.
“Everyone knows that our speed and forecheck are the strengths of the team, but we can’t lose sight of what we need to do in our own end to win battles and get the puck.”
The Rangers generated little speed and created almost no pressure against Carolina goaltender Cam Ward. They spent most of the match scrambling as the ’Canes broke out with ease and traversed the neutral zone with an absence of opposition. The Alexander Semin-Jordan Staal-Jiri Tlusty unit dominated and made the Blueshirts look silly.
The club’s faulty work ethic “manifested itself in all areas,” said Vigneault, who cited frequent giveaways in the defensive zone as well as the absence of an attack in the third period.
“I don’t understand,” said the coach.
The first period was scoreless despite the Rangers’ sloth that resulted in a 26-11 disadvantage in shot attempts.
“It felt like we dodged a bullet. I thought we were better in the second, but as a team we were off,” said Marty St. Louis, who has not scored a goal in four games as a Ranger. “These are big games. We can’t have this kind of a game.”
But the Rangers did and the Rangers sometimes do, which is why the Rangers can’t break away from the pack.