HC Peter Laviolette makes his thoughts extremely clear on NY Rangers' early penalty trouble in 3-1 loss to Oilers

The New York Rangers suffered a damaging loss on Sunday night, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Edmonton Oilers on home ice at Madison Square Garden and missing out on a valuable chance to pick up badly needed points in the standings.

While the Rangers are still mathematically alive in the tightly packed playoff chase, every regulation setback proves costly. It was during the loss to Edmonton that New York found themselves getting into penalty trouble. The Rangers were whistled three times alone in the opening 20 minutes of play, starting with a hooking call to Zac Jones.

J.T. Miller and K'Andre Miller were later called for minor penalties, the latter of which resulted in the game's opening power-play goal from Edmonton forward Corey Perry, giving them the 1-0 lead.

In his post-game news conference, Rangers coach Peter Laviolette openly said that he didn't agree with the on-ice officials and their calls against his team, saying that it disrupted their rhythm and proved costly on the scoreboard.

Q: Do you feel the amount of penalties you guys committed, especially early on, got you out of rhythm?

PL: "Yeah, I didn’t like a couple of the calls. But you’re right, there’s no question—we took four early, and they were able to capitalize on one of them."

The Rangers next find themselves matched up against another team desperate for points in their own playoff push. They'll take on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, with the opening puck scheduled to drop after 7:00 PM EST.

The Rangers decided to start goaltender Igor Shesterkin in back-to-back contests

After their victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets (another team in the East the Rangers are battling for a playoff spot with), Laviolette decided to go right back with goaltender Igor Shesterkin less than 24 hours later.

Shesterkin didn't fare as well against the Oilers as he did against the Blue Jackets, against whom he pitched a shutout.

“It’s just the situation we’re in right now to make the decision to come back with Shesty,” Laviolette said in explaining why he started Shesterkin twice in just over 24 hours. “[Saturday] wasn’t a real heavy night for him and he has played really well his last couple of starts. We made the call to stay with him.”

Shesterkin will become the NHL's highest paid goaltender in history starting next season, as he inked a massive contract extension earlier in the campaign.