NEW YORK _ Saturday marks the second anniversary of The Letter, when Rangers management announced to fans that after more than a decade of being a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, it was time to rebuild. First came the trading away of some popular veterans and the acquisitions of prospects and draft picks. That happened again last year.
Now, the Rangers are in a different place. They're still in the rebuild, though clearly, they are on the rise.
Making the playoffs this spring, however, would be a lot to ask. And losing games, like the one they lost to the Buffalo Sabres Friday night at Madison Square Garden, 3-2, will not help.
The Rangers rallied from down, 3-0, but in the end, goals by Zemgus Girgensons, in the first period, and Sam Reinhart, in the second, and old friend Jimmy Vesey in the third pushed the Rangers into a deep hole and Buffalo goalie Carter Hutton (37 saves) would not let them climb all the way out.
Mika Zibanejad's backdoor tap-in of Artemi Panarin's feed spoiled Hutton's shutout at 17:07 of the third, and Chris Kreider's six-on-four goal at 18:22 made it 3-2. But the Rangers couldn't come all the way back.
The loss dropped the Rangers to 26-23-4 on the season, and they failed to gain ground on idle Carolina, which held the second wild-card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Rangers, with 56 points, remain nine back of the Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers, who are tied with 65.
The Rangers will close out the homestand on Sunday with a game against the lowly L.A. Kings, who are last in the Western Conference and a year or so behind the Rangers in their own rebuilding project. After that, the Rangers will head out on the road next week, visiting Winnipeg Tuesday, Minnesota Thursday and Columbus Friday.
Playing their fourth game since the All-Star break and the third game of their four-game homestand, the Rangers gave goaltender Alexandar Georgiev his first start since Jan. 21, the last game before the break. He did get 20 minutes of action, when he played the third period Monday in relief of Henrik Lundqvist in a 5-3 loss to Dallas.
"I think getting that period in, I know it was only one period, but it helped him a little bit," Rangers coach David Quinn said of Georgiev.
Perhaps predictably, Georgiev looked a little unsteady at times in the first period, particularly when handling the puck around the net. Having to face only six shots on goal in the opening period probably didn't help him get into the game any quicker.
Girgensons scored his 10th goal of the season at 11:26 of the first period after Buffalo defenseman Colin Miller failed to keep a puck in at the left wing boards. Rangers winger Pavel Buchnevich, who had chased the puck up the boards and out, was standing in front of the Rangers bench and decided to change, allowing Miller to retrieve the puck with no pressure on him. Miller then skated toward the middle, entered the zone, and passed to the open Girgensons to his right. Girgensons cut to the middle and tucked the puck around Georgiev.
Georgiev (25 saves) looked much steadier in the second period when the Sabres outshot the Rangers, 16-10. He made several very good saves and was beaten only when Ryan Lindgren turned the puck over in the offensive zone to Vesey, the ex-Ranger. Vesey passed ahead to Jack Eichel and Eichel passed to Reinhart, who had a full step on Filip Chytil and a half-step on Lindgren. He finished with a pretty backhander over Georgiev's left shoulder for his 20th goal of the season, at 15:16.
