Rangers sink to new low with shutout loss to woeful Predators

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Just when you think the Rangers have hit rock bottom, the team proves that new depths can always be reached.

The Blueshirts suffered their second loss to a bottom-placed club in just over a week on Tuesday night at Bridgestone Arena, getting shut out for the first time this season in a 2-0 loss to the bottom-dwelling Predators after dropping one against then 32. ranked Blackhawks on Dec. 9.

“It shouldn’t be hard to keep our focus right now,” Ryan Lindgren said. “We should be driven to get out of this. We should do what it takes, every single game to get out of this. Fighting like hell to get out of this. You saw that tonight, I thought , we fought, but it’s just not going our way right now. It’s our job to just keep getting back to work and do what we can.”

Prior to Tuesday’s win, the Predators had not only lost nine of their last 10, but they remain the only remaining NHL team that had yet to reach double digits in the win column.

Nashville is on a very short list of teams in worse shape than the Rangers right now, and yet it was the same old, same old for a Blueshirts team that doesn’t seem to be getting any games right now.

This defeat officially tipped the Rangers to a 15-15-1 losing record, a mark that is generous for the club’s work this season.

“We’re in the business of winning,” head coach Peter Laviolette said. “So when you don’t win, it’s frustrating. Everyone’s upset about the whole thing. We’ve got to find a way out, and we’ve got to do it fast.”

The discontent in the Rangers dressing room has played out on the ice this season.

Tuesday was just another case after Kaapo Kakko vented his frustration at serving as a healthy scratch in the previous game in St. Louis. The 23-year-old Finn essentially expressed that he didn’t think he deserved to be the odd man out, noting that it’s easier to scratch a young guy like him instead of a struggling veteran.

Kakko could become the second disgruntled player to be traded from the Rangers this season after captain Jacob Trouba was shipped out despite the captain blocking an off-season trade for family reasons.

Laviolette has actively tried to divvy up the ice time differently, but the second-year Rangers bench boss hasn’t gotten the results he’s looking for.

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A little over halfway through December, Laviolette is already asking questions about his job security.

The 60-year-old veteran coach of 1,543 NHL games did not balk at the inquiry. It’s something that has to be asked amid all the conversation about what the organization should do, but there’s no indication that changes are being considered behind the bench or in management.

“These are things I can’t control,” he said. “I’ve been in this a long time.”

The Rangers came out in search of pucks, but their pursuit slowed as the first period wore on.

Chad Ruhwedel’s attempt to hold in then deflected off Jonathan Marchessault to jump his line — featuring Steven Stamkos and Filip Forsberg — for a rushing opportunity before finishing off a beautiful passing sequence to take a 1-0 lead.

From there continued the free-for-all that has been the middle of the Rangers zone.

After outscoring the Rangers 14-8 in the second period, the Predators also benefited from some strong goaltending from Juuse Saros, who recorded his third shutout of the season with 25 saves on 25 shots.

Adam Wilsby later gave Nashville some insurance with eight minutes left in regulation when the Predators forward scored his first NHL goal from the high slot to double the home team’s lead.

Rangers have run out of answers as their season slips further and further away.

Losses to two of the worst teams in the NHL will be a mere footnote to this 2024-25 campaign if it continues to go further off the rails.

The only direction for Rangers to go is up, but it’s just a matter of when they start down that path.