Rangers struggle to find answers for flop versus Flames they are refusing to dwell on

It’s a pressing question as the Rangers are now back on the outside looking in of the playoff picture.For a game of such importance, why was their effort and intensity so lacking during their 2-1 loss to the Flames on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden?But after a night to reflect on arguably their worst loss of the season, the Rangers still don’t have any good answers or insight.“I don’t know,” Will Cuylle said after an optional practice on Wednesday, taking a long pause to think but failing to pinpoint anything specific.“I don’t really have an answer for that.”That mirrored his teammates and head coach Peter Laviolette.The Rangers recorded just 13 shots on goal — their second lowest of the season.

They committed a plethora of unforced errors, giving the puck away on both sides of the ice.Their forecheck was absent, and they can thank Igor Shesterkin that the score wasn’t as lopsided as it should have been.

They surrendered 35 shots on goal along with 15 high-danger chances.They only had four high-danger chances themselves.“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” Braden Schneider said.

“We were just off our mark.It was a disappointing game for us.

Obviously a big two points that we missed out on.All we can do is turn the page and look to tomorrow.“It was just, we came out a little flat and we just weren’t executing the way we wanted to.

I think everyone in our room is disappointed.”Most of the team leaders, including Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Artemi Panarin, did not participate in Wednesday’s optional practice.The loss marked their sixth in the past eight games (2-4-2), dropping them out of the second wild-card spot with 13 games left.By Wednesday, Laviolette was not particularly interested in discussing why the energy was so low on Tuesday, other than recognizing it has to be better.It can’t be much worse.“We’ve moved on from last night,” Laviolette said.

“Everything’s been on the table this morning,...