ST. PAUL, Minn. — The deadline deal that brought big-time scorer Martin St. Louis to Broadway hasn’t exactly been an instant smash hit.
For the Rangers, beaten in Minnesota 2-1 by the Wild Thursday night, have scored just 11 goals in going 2-2-1 in five games since the trade that sent Ryan Callahan to the Lightning, only four at five-on-five — and none from the stick of St. Louis, who, in the words of coach Alain Vigneault, “obviously [is] pressing.”
“I knew it was going to be hard making this transition,” St. Louis, who had four shots in 20:23, told The Post. “I try to be honest with myself in assessing my game, and I try not to get caught up in whether I score.
“I think my work ethic has been there but obviously the production isn’t. I wish I had a few bounces but you have to earn those bounces and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m going to work my way through this.
“Once I get going, I will get going.”
Said Vigneault on the winger who scored 29 goals in 62 games with Tampa Bay despite seven- and nine-game droughts along the way: “Oh, he is pressing. He’s in a new environment and wants to do well. He’s putting a lot of pressure on himself. He wants to do well. He’s got to work himself through it, and he will.”
The Rangers are going through a stretch where nothing but nothing is coming easy to them. Cam Talbot, who has surrendered two goals or fewer in 14 of his 17 starts, was helpless on Minnesota’s two goals, both coming off defensive zone breakdowns, the winner scored by Zach Parise off a goalmouth scramble at 1:03 of the third period on his team’s fourth whack at the puck from in front.
The effort was much better than it was in Tuesday’s 3-1 defeat in Carolina, but the Blueshirts were unable to generate off the forecheck or on the rush. They rarely pressured goaltender Darcy Kuemper or the Wild defense.
Vigneault juggled his top two combinations, flipping left wings Chris Kreider and Carl Hagelin in an effort to stimulate the attack. Kreider moved to the unit with St. Louis and Brad Richards while Hagelin skated with Rick Nash and Derek Stepan, the latter of whom scored the lone Rangers goal on a power play that tied the score 1-1 at 3:19 of the second.
The switch didn’t flip one for the Rangers, who have scored four goals five-on-five, one four-on-four, three shorthanded, two on the power play (one five-on-three) and one empty-netter since the deadline.
“This is not the time to go cold,” an extremely frustrated Brad Richards told The Post. “I don’t want to sit here with excuses, but we’ve gotten some weird bounces lately, too. I had the puck bounce right through my legs in the first when I was in front, and at a time like this, getting that first goal can be so important.
“But the fact also is that for four periods — the three in Carolina and the first in this one — we certainly didn’t create enough. We’ve got to get to the net more and we need to get back to shooting the puck more.
“I think we’ve got to dumb it down a little bit.”
The Rangers, who are in Winnipeg Friday night, have won just two of their last seven (2-4-1), having dropped the two games immediately preceding the trade. They are tied for second place with Columbus in the Metro, one point ahead of the fourth-place Flyers, who hold the conference’s final playoff spot as a wild card, with Philadelphia having played two fewer games than the Blueshirts.
“I don’t think anyone is going to panic,” said Marc Staal, one of the miscreants on the winner. “At this time of the year, all the games are going to be tight. We have to be patient and stick with it.
“It’s not like we’re going to get four quick goals and ride them in.”
No, it’s not.