Postgame takeaways: Reeling Rangers spoil Jonathan Quick's L.A. homecoming

LOS ANGELES - Jonathan Quick didn't need to express his frustration through words.

It was written all over his face.

The Rangers' goalie downplayed the significance of making his first start in L.A. as a member of the visiting team − "You play 41 road games," he said with his eyes pointing at the floor. "It’s another of those" − but his teammates felt the weight of the letdown following Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Kings.

"It’s pretty special for him to come back here," captain Jacob Trouba said. "It’s disappointing with the start, especially with what that game meant to him. It's tough. As a group of guys and what he means to this room and how he's come in here and how he's treated everyone, it's disappointing."

Like Quick, who hasn't won a start since Dec. 15, these Rangers are finding new ways to lose.

After a stretch of games in which they were outshooting opponents but often finding themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard, Saturday brought a new problem to the forefront.

New York struggled to hold onto the puck and barely generated any offensive push, spoiling a solid 24-save effort in Quick's return to Crypto.com Arena.

"It was a tight-checking game," Quick said. "Both teams not giving up too much, and they were able to get one more than us. That’s how the game goes sometimes."

'No magic answer'

One day shy of his 38th birthday, the veteran netminder received a long video tribute and a warm greeting from the town he called home for 16 years. But his new team didn't do enough to help him complete the feel-good story.

"We obviously wanted to win for him," veteran Chris Kreider said. "He played incredible. We’re not finding the net right now."

The Rangers (28-15-2) were flat from the start, mustering only two shots in the first period, and never seemed to find their footing.

"The start was no good," head coach Peter Laviolette said. "We were outworked. They were quicker. They wanted the puck more than we did."

L.A. dominated possession, so much so that the Blueshirts went a span of 22:25 without a shot on goal from early in the first until the middle of the second. The drought was 26:03 if you only count five-on-five shots.

Lineup changes: A few tweaks for Jonathan Quick's return to L.A.

You can't win if you can't score, which is emerging as the latest issue on the Rangers' growing list. They've cut down on the defensive mistakes and turnovers that have been plaguing them in recent weeks, but it may have come at the expense of offense. They've now scored two goals or less in five of their last six games, including just one on 23 shots Saturday while going 0-for-3 on the power play.

"They definitely won the possession battle, especially in the first period," Kreider said. "Getting on your hands, winning pucks and firing pucks. They played a very simple game early and they were able to build off that. Our goalie was able to keep us in it and we responded a little bit in a second, but then fall short."

The most concerning stat, though, is the piling-up losses.

New York has dropped seven of 10 games since the calendar turned to 2024 while going 10-11-1 in its last 22. The latest came against a Kings' team that had won just one time in their previous 10 contests.

As Trouba put it, "We're going through it right now."

"There’s no magic answer to get out of this," he added. "We just have to look at each other. We all have to bring a little bit more."

Chasing the game

Despite the lack of offensive threat, Quick nearly got the Rangers out of the first period locked in a scoreless tie.

That was until L.A. struck 34 seconds before intermission.

Trevor Moore slipped a loose puck away from defenseman Braden Schneider behind the Blueshirts' net, then swung a pass to an uncovered Kevin Fiala for an easy finish.

The Rangers remained stuck in the mud to begin the second period, leading Laviolette to turn to his best player all season − Artemi Panarin − in search of a spark. No. 10 provided it during a top-line shift by fighting to keep a rare offensive possession alive and dishing it to Mika Zibanejad, starting a passing sequence that ended with Adam Fox finding Kreider for the tying goal.

That made it 1-1 with 5:21 remaining in the second period, giving New York new life despite being thoroughly outplayed. But the momentum didn't last long, with Jaret Anderson-Dolan stealing a puck off Rangers defenseman K'Andre Miller's stick 3:34 later to fuel an odd-man rush that ended with a Quinton Byfield goal.

"For us, it’s about putting ourselves in a position to not chase hockey games," Kreider said.

They're frequently chasing because they're not getting scoring from many places outside of Panarin. Even his line with Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafrenière was less effective than usual, mustering only three shots at 5v5, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Kreider-Zibanejad-Kaapo Kakko line was even worse, as they were outshot, 9-3, with both Zibanejad and Kakko failing to put any shots on goal.

Lafrenière nearly tied the score in the final minute, but a stretching left pad save from Kings goalie David Rittich gave the Rangers what they deserved.

Asked if he considered a more elaborate shakeup to snap the team out of its funk, Laviolette plainly said, "No, I didn't." But whether it's through lineup alterations, strategic adjustments or simply digging deeper, it's clear that something needs to change.

The Blueshirts won't have much time to make corrections, either, with an 8:30 p.m. puck drop set for Sunday in nearby Anaheim.

"It’s something different for us every night right now," Kreider said. "When you play 82 games, you’re going to go through tough stretches. If you just get exasperated, blame yourself, grip it too tight, look for answers, you don't get out of the hole. You lean into the frustration, you work through it, you learn, you get better, closer as a team, more battle-hardened as a team."

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Postgame takeaways: Reeling Rangers spoil Jonathan Quick's homecoming