Peter Laviolette’s stunning admission after brutal Lightning loss

The New York Rangers have had an incredibly dreadful season to this point. And the Rangers are watching their slim playoff hopes fade away with each passing game. In some ways, New York’s 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Monday felt like a nail in the coffin. And the reaction from head coach Peter Laviolette did not help matters.

Laviolette spoke with the media following this loss. After losses like this, some may wonder what a head coach has to say to his team. However, there is apparently no message being sent on Broadway. The veteran Rangers coach made an absolutely stunning admission following his team’s loss to the Lightning.

“I don’t have a message right now. I don’t go into the locker room after the game,” he said, via USA Today reporter Vince Z. Mercogliano.

The frustration is evident in those words and in how the Rangers are conducting themselves. They certainly know what’s at stake with the regular season coming to a close. This team is more than aware of what the expectations were coming into the season. Unfortunately, they have not lived up to those expectations by any means.

“We needed to win a game tonight,” Laviolette said of the game against the Lightning, via Mercogliano. “We didn’t win. It’s been a lot of that through the course of the year.”

The Lightning broke through in the first period with a three-goal outburst. The Rangers got a goal back in the second, but they allowed two more in the third to condemn them to defeat. Tampa Bay star Brayden Point led the way with two goals for his club on Monday.

The Rangers remain six points back of the Montreal Canadiens for the East’s final Wild Card spot. However, each of their immediate Wild Card rivals — the Detroit Red Wings, New York Islanders, and Columbus Blue Jackets — have a game in hand over the Blueshirts. The Rangers return to action on Wednesday with what is certainly a must-win game against the already-eliminated Philadelphia Flyers.