Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/58bc5062-e9d0-4227-8568-ed2236e89a68.jpeg] Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images The New York Rangers’ home struggles continued to mount on Tuesday night, losing 3-0 to the Carolina Hurricanes. Going into this matchup, the Rangers [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers] were coming off three consecutive wins, but they were all on the road. Through their first five home games, the Rangers were winless. While the Rangers had a strong start to the contest, Nikolaj Ehlers’ power-play goal put the Hurricanes up 1-0 13:30 minutes into the first period, bringing the morale down at the world’s most famous arena. New York’s offensive push continued into the second period. Unfortunately for them, despite generating chance after chance, their scoring woes at home still haunted them. To start the season, players would often talk about how they were happy with the amount of chances generated and that the goals would eventually come, but it’s been six home games and the Rangers have been shutout three times, while scoring more than one goal just once. “This is where we need to dig deep and carry the load a little and raise our own expectations for ourselves, not just you know, we like what we're doing, and we're getting looks,” J.T. Miller emphasized. “It's not really cute anymore. It's been 14 games. We're not executing by capitalizing on our chances.” Down 2-0 going into the third period, the Rangers’ game completely unraveled. They failed to record a shot for 21:18 minutes and took just one shot on net through the final frame. The Rangers just couldn’t seem to break into the offensive zone cleanly and were on their heels all period long from an onslaught Hurricanes’ attack. Will Cuylle Feels Like Himself Again After Overcoming Slow Start [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/fe4cad57-d03d-4d10-9375-23c63ee646ff.jpeg] Will Cuylle Feels Like Himself Again After Overcoming Slow Start Will Cuylle is beginning to find his game. [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-york-rangers/latest-news/will-cuylle-feels-like-himself-again-after-overcoming-slow-start] “I think we were pressing a little bit in the third and give Carolina credit, they locked it down pretty good in the third period,” Sullivan said. We did not do as good a job in the third as we did in the first two periods.” As the chances kept coming and the Rangers continuously failed to get the puck past Pyotr Kochetkov, frustration began to creep in. It was evident in the third period that the Rangers were rattled and simply did not play the same style of structured hockey we saw from them during the majority of their recent four-game road trip. “I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of something like this before in terms of getting looks and not scoring,” Zibanejad said. “It’s frustrating. No one wants to win at home more than we do right now. Maybe frustration and other emotions kind of got to us in the third.” The burden of not winning at home is also becoming a storyline the Rangers cannot avoid. The questions about their home struggles continue to be asked, and the only way to stop those questions is to perform up to expectations on the ice. Sullivan admitted that the struggles at Madison Square Garden are certainly eating up at the team, but also made clear that it’s all just about pushing forward. “I mean, these guys are human,” Sullivan said. “They care a lot about what's going on. So of course, we want to be a team that prides itself on being good at home and being stingy at home and making this a tough place for people to play… That’s just the way it’s going for us right now. We just got to keep fighting.” The Rangers will be back in action on Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings.
