$81,499,999 New York Rangers star sounds alarm after dismal 5-1 loss to Bolts 

Artemi Panarin spoke to the media after the New York Rangers' 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday at Madison Square Garden. NHL insider Peter Baugh shared Panarin’s postgame comments on X/Twitter:

"If we keep playing like that, we’ll miss the playoffs," Panarin said.

The Rangers have now lost six of their last nine games. On Saturday, they were shut out 4-0 by the New Jersey Devils. These results have hurt their playoff chances.

Truthfully, the Rangers have little chance of making it to the playoffs. They are six points below the Montreal Canadiens for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.

“This year, everything is harder for us. Both zones: o-zone, d-zone,” Panarin said.

The Rangers are fourth in the Metropolitan Division. Their record is 36-33-7, with 79 points. They average 3.00 goals per game and allow 3.03, ranking 19th in the League. The power play ranks 27th, but their penalty kill ranks eighth at 81.4%.

Panarin has been one of the team’s top performers this season. The 33-year-old forward has eight points in his last five games. He leads the Rangers with 82 points, including 34 goals and 48 assists.

Artemi Panarin is in year six of his seven-year contract with the Rangers. The deal is worth $81,499,999 and has a cap hit of $11,642,857. He has lived up to his contract number as he has scored 90-plus points in four of the last five seasons. Specifically, last year he scored his career-high 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points.

Vincent Trocheck and Chris Kreider are also contributing to the Rangers' offense. But despite the urgency to secure a playoff spot, they are not able to get the crucial wins.

Lightning defeated New York Rangers with an early lead

The New York Rangers lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning after allowing them a three-goal first-period lead. Forward Artemi Panarin was left frustrated about the loss.

"It's terrible," Panarin said via NHL.com. "I don't know. We've got to win the games. We're not doing that."

Nikita Kucherov scored the first goal for the Lightning on a power play. Yanni Gourde made it 2-0 just 36 seconds later by scoring on a rebound. Brayden Point added another power-play goal at 14:54 to give Tampa Bay a 3-0 lead.

In the second period, Mika Zibanejad scored the Rangers' only goal to make it 3-1. Point got his second of the night in the third period. Brandon Hagel scored an empty-net goal to make it 5-1.