Rangers looking for answers entering Christmas break: 'We just fold'

The New York Rangers are still trying to find answers for their first-half struggles after limping into the Christmas break with a 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Monday.

"Every game, it feels like it has to happen that night," forward Vincent Trocheck said, per The New York Post's Mollie Walker. "Just seems like we get down early or we get down at any point in the game and we just fold. That can't happen."

Trocheck added: "We've got to show more heart. We should be embarrassed," according to USA Today's Vince Z. Mercogliano.

The Rangers mustered just 12 shots on goal in the defeat, their lowest total since posting 11 shots in a 4-0 loss on March 21, 2003, also to the Devils.

Chris Kreider, the longest-tenured Ranger, missed Monday's contest as a healthy scratch. New York head coach Peter Laviolette explained the call postgame, saying, "We just need more."

"At the end of the day, we're not playing a brand that we need to play in order to be successful," he said, per Walker. "He's a guy that we count on to help deliver that. For me, those conversations aren't easy, but that's the decision that I made today."

Superstar Artemi Panarin was a man of few words when asked what he made of his longtime teammate's benching.

"I don't know what to say," he said, according to Mercogliano.

The Rangers have lost 13 of their last 17 games and risk falling to last place in the Metropolitan Division if the New York Islanders and Columbus Blue Jackets win their games Monday.

The reigning Presidents' Trophy winners return to action Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

"We get a break now," Rangers defenseman Ryan Lindgren said, according to Walker. "We've got to look at ourselves in the mirror here and come back really hungry because this is just not winning hockey we're playing right now. It's miserable for us, it's miserable for the fans. It's time to figure it out."

The Devils added insult to injury Monday by showing footage of Rangers fans cheering when New Jersey took Jack Hughes with the No. 1 pick at the 2019 NHL Draft. New York landed Kaapo Kakko at second overall.

The Rangers traded Kakko to the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday.

Hughes played coy when asked if the clip put a smile on his face.

"I don't know. I don't think it, no," he said with a laugh. "Unless the camera caught me."

The Devils have taken the first two games of the season series against the Rangers. The rivals face off again on Jan. 9 and April 5.