If you want to rate degree of demoralizing defeats, be my guest. If you believe that Thursday’s 4-3 loss to the Islanders at the Garden in which the Nomads got the winner with 1:26 remaining in the third period on their only shot of the final 20 minutes — while the Rangers poured 17 on Robin Lehner — leaves more scars than the four defeats preceding it, in which the Blueshirts were outscored 22-5, well, OK.
But while this five-game skid is discouraging, it has also served a constructive purpose in exposing the Rangers’ personnel once and for all as not fast enough, skilled enough or deep enough to compete on even footing with credible playoff contenders.