The New York Rangers came out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break on Saturday and promptly fell flat on their faces in an 8-2 thrashing at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres.
"Did not expect that," star forward Artemi Panarin said, per the New York Post's Mollie Walker. "We cannot start a game like at (this time) of year."
The Rangers had won three of their last four contests heading into the break, but Saturday was a different story.
New York trailed 5-0 before the buzzer sounded to end the opening frame. Igor Shesterkin was removed from the game after allowing five first-period goals for the first time in his career, marking his fastest pull from a contest over his NHL tenure (18:21), according to Sportsnet Stats.
Media requested interviews with the Shesterkin postgame, but the 2022 Vezina Trophy winner didn't come out, per Walker.
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette opted not to zero in on Shesterkin when asked about the netminder's performance.
"There's no sense talking about any one particular individual inside of this gathering right here," he said. "We weren't good as a team. We got what we deserve, so."
Laviolette added that he didn't know why New York played so poorly in the opening 20 minutes.
"It wasn't good. There was nothing that was good about the game," he said. "Terrible start, terrible first period. Didn't get much better from there. It was not the game we were looking for coming out of the break. That's it in a nutshell."
The Rangers have a quick turnaround and face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET. Coincidentally, the Penguins surrendered eight goals Saturday against the Washington Capitals.
"This is not going to get us where we need to go, and we've got to digest that tonight," Laviolette said, according to USA Today's Vince Z. Mercogliano. "We've got to wake up tomorrow and be a determined group."
Rangers forward J.T. Miller, meanwhile, said he was happy he and his teammates would "get the chance to reset" in less than 24 hours.
"I know we're gonna be better tomorrow, it just sucks right now," he said.
New York is fifth in the Metropolitan Division with a 27-25-4 record. The Rangers won the Presidents' Trophy as the league's top regular-season team last campaign after recording a franchise-best 55 wins and 114 points.
