from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

The message coming out of the Rangers’ locker room after another sloppy performance was clear — they understand this no longer can be thought of as a slide. With a second consecutive 5-2 loss, this one to the Jets on Friday night at MTS Centre, the Rangers are hard to describe as still in freefall.

Instead, with a 13-game run of 3-8-2, they’re beginning to define themselves in unfamiliar terms. Losing is becoming the norm.

“At some point you have to ask yourself as a player, ‘What more can I do to prepare? What more can I do to get my game to where it needs to be for this team to be successful again?’ ” said captain Ryan McDonagh, who was pointed and clear-eyed after a game when he was as culpable as many of his compatriots in helping the Jets to a plethora of terrific scoring chances.

“Nobody is doing quite enough, even close to what it takes to win games right now.”...

And coach Alain Vigneault is beginning to get upset when his defensive structure is questioned, instead going right to players’ execution as the culprit.

“I don’t consider a turnover a defensive breakdown. I consider that a bad pass,” Vigneault said, referring to McDonagh’s giveaway behind his net that resulted in the first of two goals for Bryan Little in the opening 7:34 to give Winnipeg that 2-0 lead.

“At the end of the day right now, we have a few guys — not to say quite a few — but a lot of our top players having a hard time with their game. It’s my job as the head coach to help them find their game. It’s as simple as that.”

read on

Watch the game highlights below...