The fading and battered Rangers can't sink any lower in the Metropolitan Division.
A 5-2 loss to the Predators on Saturday, coupled with the Islanders' 4-3 win, left the Rangers at the bottom of the eight-team division, stuck at 55 points.
It was the fifth loss in the last six games for the Rangers, who also lost Marc Staal and Jimmy Vesey, injured from unpenalized head shots by Alexei Emelin and Filip Forsberg.
In the second period, Staal, who has suffered several concussions in the past, left the ice immediately after Emelin left his feet and slammed Staal's head into the end boards with his elbow. At 9:12, Forsberg decked Vesey, who left with his mouth bloodied. He returned, but was shut down after the second intermission. After the hit on Vesey, Brady Skjei dropped the gloves with Ryan Johansen, but the Preds won the bigger battle.
The Blueshirts tried to rally. Trailing 2-0 after that nasty second period at Bridgestone Arena, J.T. Miller, cruising past the net on the power play, redirected Mats Zuccarello's pass past goalkeeper Pekka Rinna (20 saves) just 21 seconds into the third with Mattias Ekholm in the box. Miller had scored the last Blueshirts goal with 1:50 left in the 6-5 win in San Jose.
But the Predators quickly restored the two-goal lead. Colton Sissons, uncovered between the circles, redirected P.K. Subban's wide slap shot past Henrik Lundqvist at 2:36. And they did it again. After Mika's Zibanejad's power-play, one-timer with 5:25 left trimmed the margin to 3-2, Ryan Johansen dropped a pass to Viktor Arvidsson, who beat a helpless Lundqvist 16 seconds later. At 17:56, Kevin Fiala's empty-netter sealed it.
Already without injured Chris Kreider (rib resection), Kevin Shattenkirk (torn meniscus) and Peter Buchnevich (concussion), it appears that the Rangers (8-13-2 on the road), will be an even thinner squad when they face the Stars in Dallas Monday.
Just 19 seconds into the second period, the Predators took a 1-0 lead. Subban wound up and his rocket from above the right circle near boards went high past Lundqvist for his 13th goal.
At 3:36, Mika Zibanejad slid into Rinne and was penalized for goaltender interference, giving the Predators their third power play of the game, but Lundqvist and a defensive stop by Nick Holden in the crease kept the Rangers just a goal down.
Peter Holland's pass on a two-on-one was blocked by a sliding Subban, but Holland recovered and backhanded the puck past Rinne. Predators coach Peter Laviolette challenged that Michael Grabner was offside and he won _ the goal was overturned and the score remained 1-0.
At 14:01, Zuccarello was called for tripping, but the Rangers and Ludnqvist turned away the fourth power play. The Rangers had none. With 2:26 left, Kevin Fiala took a pass from Craig Smith and beat Lundqvist glove side for the 2-0 edge.
In the first period, the Blueshirts, playing more physical and feisty than in the 4-0 loss to the Leafs on Thursday at home, had to turn back two man-advantages against the club with the best power play in the league at home in the first. Marc Staal's delay of game at 4:49 and Brendan Smith's tripping along the right boards at 8:46 left the Blueshirts shorthanded.
Lundqvist denied Arvidsson's tip in from about 10 feet and blocked Subban's blast through a screen. He stopped all 12 shots in the first 20 minutes.
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