WHAT THE PUCK: Henrik Lundqvist fails to stop this shot by the Leafs’ James van Riemsdyk during the Rangers’ 4-3 loss last night. (AP)
TORONTO — The Rangers had spent much of the last few days talking about how the dynamic had changed for the better with the trade deadline moves that reshaped the club.
Last night, in one of what will be a string of essential battles down the homestretch to secure a playoff spot, the Rangers just weren’t dynamic enough until the third period, and then when they were, one of a number of critical defensive zone breakdowns proved fatal to the cause.
For after trailing by two goals after two periods, the Blueshirts rallied to draw even on goals by Rick Nash — who had a pair in a bravura performance — and Derek Stepan, only to allow Toronto’s Phil Kessel to break the tie and deal the Rangers an eventual 4-3 loss at 9:39, just 39 seconds after the Blueshirts had tied it.
“The next shift after a goal is so important, and we didn’t get the job done,” said Nash, who was part of the unit on for the breakdown on which Kessel slid home his own rebound after finding himself alone in front of Henrik Lundqvist. “It’s definitely disappointing.”
The defeat leaves the Rangers in a tie for seventh place in the Eastern Conference with the Islanders and two points ahead of the ninth-place Devils, with all three clubs having nine games remaining. The Blueshirts are two points behind the sixth-place Senators, who hold one game in hand. And they’re six behind the fifth-place Leafs, who are at the Garden tomorrow night.
“We’re a desperate hockey team desperate for points, but we had mental breakdowns,” Nash said. “At this point we have to be at our best. We can’t have defensive zone breakdowns. We count on Hank to make the first save; he shouldn’t have to make the next couple also.”
Dan Girardi, caught in no-man’s land in the high slot on the winner, was minus-three as he and partner Michael Del Zotto were on the ice for all three Toronto even-strength goals. The Rangers often found themselves a step and a thought behind the quick and opportunistic Leafs.
“At the end of the day, we have to defend better,” Ryan Callahan said. “But it’s hard to defend when you don’t have the puck in the other end for long periods of time.
“Still, we pushed in the third until we tied it, and had some great chances after they went ahead again, but we can’t think we deserved better when the first 40 minutes weren’t what we needed them to be.”
The first two periods were a struggle, but things began to turn when coach John Tortorella double-shifted Nash in the third in order to get the Big Easy away from the match with Toronto’s physical No. 1 defenseman Dion Phaneuf.
Nash, who had scored on a left wing rush to the net against Cody Franson in the second period after Phaneuf had changed following a Toronto penalty kill, took 11 shifts for 9:01 in the third. He played with usual linemates Stepan and Callahan, took some turns with Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard, and also had a shift with Brad Richards and Ryane Clowe, neither of whom were factors.
“It feels like I’ve been matched my whole career against guys like Phaneuf,” said Nash, who scored on a right-wing bull-rush against an overmatched Mark Fraser at 2:50 of the third. “I let Torts worry about the matchups, I just go out and play no matter who I’m out there against, but I never had a coach before who was that good at getting a feel for the game and using it to our team’s advantage.”
The Rangers had a feel for last night’s game in the third period but couldn’t use it to their advantage. There are nine games remaining for the club to recapture its dynamic.