The Rangers saw the blueprint for how to win on Tuesday night.
All they had to do was watch the Hurricanes play.
Afterward, coach Mike Sullivan and team captain J.T. Miller noted Carolina was more physical in front of the net — on both ends of the ice — en route to the win.
And it’s something the Rangers haven’t done enough of, especially at Madison Square Garden, where they are the only team in the league without a home victory thanks to the Kings win in Los Angeles on Tuesday night.
“I just think it’s resilience [and] mindset,” Sullivan said. “We’re gonna go to work as far as areas to try to help us get better: Having a harder, more consistent, presence” in front of the net in order to impact opponents’ sight lines.
And Miller, who put most of the blame for the team’s overall struggles on himself, echoed his coach.
“We’re not putting [shots] in the net and we’re not hard enough around their net right now,’’ Miller said following the fourth Rangers blanking in six home games. “It’s obviously frustrating… [Carolina] play the right way, bearing down in front of their net.”
Miller wasn’t alone during the postgame in letting it be known he’s just about out of answers as the team had Wednesday off before returning to practice Thursday, with a game in Detroit Friday, thankfully not at the Garden.
The Rangers managed to score nine goals in their past three games on the road — all wins — and are 6-1-1 away from MSG, all while losing their first six at home for the first time in franchise history.
“No one wants to win at home more than we do right now,’’ Mika Zibanejad said. “We have to find a way to put the puck in the net. I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like this before, in terms of getting looks and not scoring. That’s frustrating.”
So is trailing by two goals when the Rangers felt they played well during the first two periods on Tuesday.
But they all acknowledged they played a poor third period, when they got just one shot on goal as Carolina iced the win.
Adam Fox said it’s “human nature” to start to press in those kinds of situations, which only makes the situation worse.
“We’re doing a lot of things right early and [the shots] don’t go in,’’ Fox said. “Then you try to force things a little more. That’s not the recipe for success. We know that.”
Sullivan said he understood his players’ mentality, with his team also hapless on the power play, where they are a league-worst 4-for-36 on the season, and 0-for-12 in their past five games.
The coach said he may look to “tweak” some parts of the special teams.
“That’s the challenge of sports,” Sullivan said. “When it doesn’t go your way, you have to show a certain amount of resilience and fight through it. That’s where we’re at. We’re gonna have to find a way to fight through some of that, if it’s doubt or [lack of] confidence.”
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