HC Peter Laviolette drops unusual response after NY Rangers' disappointing loss to Lightning

New York Rangers coach Peter Laviolette shared his thoughts following a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday. The Rangers are among the teams vying for a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. After the loss to the Bolts, the Blueshirts go six points behind the No. 2-ranked Montreal Canadiens with five games remaining in the season.

Laviolette emphasized the need to win more hockey games and expressed disappointment with their current standings.

"If you would’ve asked me this summer, I’d say [I’m surprised we’re in this position],” Laviolette honestly said during media availability, via The New York Post. “We need to win more hockey games. We certainly are disappointed to be in this position.”

When asked about his message to the Rangers' locker room after the loss, coach Peter Laviolette provided a somewhat unusual response.

"I don’t have a message right now. I don’t go into the locker room after the game," he said.

All five of the Rangers' remaining games are against the Eastern Conference teams. They host the Philadelphia Flyers at MSG next on Wednesday, with the puck drop scheduled for 7:30 p.m. ET.

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NY Rangers drop points to Lightning in key wild card matchup

On Sunday, the NY Rangers suffered a disappointing 5-1 defeat to the Tampa Bay Lightning at home in Madison Square Garden. The Rangers are currently on a two-game losing streak.

Nikita Kucherov opened the scoring for the visitors after putting them up 1-0 on the power play at 13:09 into the first period. Yanni Gourde extended the Bolts' lead to 2-0 just over forty seconds later.

Brayden Point extended the Lightning's score to 3-0 before heading into the final period. Mika Zibanejad was the lone scorer for the New York Rangers, who cut the deficit to 3-1 after scoring on the power play at 3:18 into the second period.

"It's tight," Point said via NHL. "It's home ice and that means a lot in a seven-game series. We're just really working on trying to get our game right for the playoffs and that's going to be a big test against Toronto."

Point doubled his tally on the night, scoring on the power play to increase Tampa's lead to 4-1. Brandon Hagel finished the game for them after scoring the winner on the empty net with less than three minutes remaining in the game.

The Tampa Bay Lightning improved their record to 45-26-6, trailing the Atlantic Division leaders Toronto Maple Leafs (47-25-4) by two points. Both teams will meet at Amalie Arena on Wednesday.