Rangers begin road trip with loss to Kings, remain out of playoff spot

LOS ANGELES — Last year’s Capitals established the Eastern Conference’s 82-game low-bar standard since 2005-06, when the guaranteed victory and losers’ point were introduced to the NHL, by qualifying for the final playoff spot with 91 pointsBut guess what? The bar might even be lower this season.And that is why, despite the Rangers’ ongoing penchant for self-sabotage, they still believe-it-or-not have a shot at the final wild card.There is still a chance they are going to reach into your pockets for playoff tickets.Well, probably not all that much of a chance.The Blueshirts’ 3-1 empty-net abetted defeat to the Kings on Tuesday left them a point behind the second wild card Canadiens, who were hammered 6-1 in St.

Louis.Montreal, which has 12 games to play to the Rangers’ 10, is operating at a .536 percentage that would equate to a full-season 88 points.The Islanders, tied in points with the Blueshirts but also with 12 games to go, are playing at a .529 percentage that would equate to a full-season 87 points.So if the target now is 89 points, the Blueshirts, resting at 74 points after going 1-4 in their past five and 3-6-2 in their past 11 would need 15 points over their final 10 contests, something like 7-2-1.They did go 7-0-3 in January, correct?The Blueshirts went with the top-nine lines with which they ended Saturday’s victory over Canucks, with J.T.

Miller between Alexis Lafrenière and Jonny Brodzinski; Vincent Trocheck between Artemi Panarin and Brennan Othmann; and Mika Zibanejad between Chris Kreider and Will Cuylle.But it did not ignite any immediate type of offense.The Rangers turned over the puck way too often but seemed to be reasonably responsible on defense despite not having meaningful possession after the first or second shift.As has been their recent wont, the Blueshirts went a large swatch without a shot, in fact finishing the scoreless first period with a sum of two, neither threatening.Indeed, the two shots were from the outside,...