The New York Rangers left San Jose on Saturday evening a mix of embarrassed and humbled.
The Sharks pounded the Blueshirts 4-1, and the Rangers were saying the right things after the game, which saw Henrik Lundqvist mercifully pulled in the third period.
The Rangers were outshot 52-26, and the score was respectable only because of Lundqvist, who stopped 43-of-47 shots before Alain Vigneault gave him a breather - it was a 1-1 game after 40 minutes due to Lundqvist, after all.
"That type of game at this time of year ... is garbage," Marc Staal said, according to Newsday's Steve Zipay. "It was ugly. We're trying to make plays and they're not there. Just fighting it all over the ice."
Captain Ryan McDonagh, Staal's teammate on the blue line, went even further.
"It seemed guys weren't willing to compete hard, and that's a very hard thing to say, but you have to admit it sometimes, our group gave away two points, it's very uncharacteristic," he said. "We left (Lundqvist) out to try. The way he was competing for pucks, we weren't nearly as good as he was."
Lundqvist, the ultimate teammate, refused to throw his fellow Rangers under the bus.
"I need to make more saves, if that's the only way. There were so many big changes," he said, "I don't know what to say."
Lundqvist was asked about McDonagh's comments, and all but agreed.
"There's only one way to win hockey games and that's to play hard and smart," he said, "and if you're missing that a little bit against a good team, it's going to be tough."
The Rangers are two points up on the Pittsburgh Penguins for second in the Metropolitan Division. They've got to forget about Saturday and move on. Up next: the Florida Panthers on Monday.
