New York Rangers Need To Halt Small Skid

These moments have been far and few between for the New York Rangers, but Sunday night's loss to the Montreal Canadiens is the second loss in three games for the Rangers -- who still have an NHL-high

New York seemingly got a dominant 3-0 victory against the Toronto Maple Leafs to rebound from a 3-0 loss to the Ottawa Senators; but Sunday night's effort was poor at best. The defense couldn't find its game, and the offense only found the net once in the two losses.

There have been some alarming signs, mainly the power play. The Rangers' power play has been horrible recently, although the winning streaks have managed to overshadow the team's inability to convert with the man advantage. The Rangers didn't covert against Montreal Sunday night, although they only had one opportunity.

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The Rangers' next three games aren't exactly cakewalks either. New York will be taking on the Nashville Predators, the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins -- three good teams who can easily turn this two losses in three games stretch into five losses in six games if the team does't find a way to snap out of it.

This is no time to panic, however. The Rangers are one of the top teams in the NHL and have proven all year that they are capable of beating top teams in this league. This three-game stretch will be an important one as the Rangers continue to try and strengthen their grip on the Atlantic Division crown.

As it is, the Rangers have done more than enough this season to create a feeling of comfort that the team will work out of this mini-skid. But that doesn't mean things don't need work, and the power play is the biggest of those issues right now.

We'll see if that changes Tuesday.