In New York, Vincent Trocheck opened the scoring on Monday to stake the Rangers to a 1-0 lead over the visiting Vancouver Canucks.
That was really the highlight of the evening as the Canucks reeled off three goals in the third to take a 3-1 lead into the middle frame.
The Rangers never really competed for the match, Igor Shesterkin had another less than mediocre performance in the loss.
Thatcher Demko made 39 saves in the win.
Vancouver improved to 26-11-3.
“Yeah, you should enjoy this, but to be a really good hockey team, consistent all the time you’ve got to make sure they stay even-keeled,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “I’ve got to give the guys credit, they’re really learning to be even-keeled. I don’t think we’re strutting around, but you should enjoy it and have confidence. The Rangers pressed and we made a couple of nice plays under pressure. That’s what I like, not backing off. You can’t hold that team for 60 minutes. It’s a really good hockey team, and I thought for the most part we did a good job even when they pressed us.”
Trocheck scored off the power play at 3:38 of the opening stanza for the early lead.
The Canucks took just 53 seconds to tie the game with a goal from J.T. Miller at 4:31.
Nils Hoglander scored the first of his double on the night at 6:45 to put Vancouver up, 2-1.
Brock Boeser then scored with 16 seconds left in the first for a 3-1 lead headed to the middle frame.
The Rangers dropped to 26-11-2.
Artemi Panarin hit for a goal at 8:19 of the second to cut the deficit to 3-2 for New York.
The Canucks replied with two goals in the second to take a 5-2 lead into the third period.
“We made mental mistakes,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “We made line change mistakes, we made turnover mistakes. I don’t feel like we were in our end taking heat the entire night, but the mistakes that we made they were loud, I mean they were really loud. It’s just too much for our goaltenders. We’ve got to be better than that.”
Elias Pettersson scored the first of a pair of goals on the night at 15:33, giving the Canucks a 4-2 lead.
Hoglander picked up his double at 16:47 of the period to make it 5-2.
“When we found success early in the season it was playing solid defensively, limiting the odd man rushes, general opportunities and chances against,” New York’s Jacob Trouba said. “You look at our group we’ve got a pretty good special teams unit on both sides. I think not putting ourselves down in a hole 5-on-5 and giving up those opportunities, depending on our goalies to make too many saves that they shouldn’t have to make, that’s not where we were earlier in the year. That’s what’s drifted into our game a little bit with the lack of details. It’s up to us to dig ourselves out, recognize it and get back to what made us successful earlier in the year.”
Trocheck scored his second of the match at 3:36 of the third to give the Rangers some life, which they wasted.
Pettersson hit an empty net for the 6-3 final count at 18:27.
Shesterkin made 20 saves in the loss,.
The Rangers have a real Shesterkin problem on their hands. Since coming back from a “general soreness”, he has seen BBs and not beach balls.,
The Rangers have too good a start to the season to ruin it by leaning on an unreliable goalie.
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