Rangers completely fall apart in embarrassing, listless loss to Kings

There is no defense. 

Literally, figuratively, there is no defense for the Rangers’ failure to compete in this spin cycle that is threatening to capsize the season even before the NHL’s eight-day holiday roster freeze kicks in a minute before midnight Wednesday. 

The Rangers talked about it during a meeting following Saturday’s embarrassment of a 5-1 rout by the Kings at the Garden, but the time for talk has been over for weeks through this stretch in which the Blueshirts have gone 3-9 in their last 12 overall and 3-7 in their last 10 on Broadway. 

And if this game — in which the Blueshirts were disengaged and uninterested for the full 60 minutes — proves anything, it is that a Return to the Dark Ages of 1997-2004 are never all that far away. 

This is a group in which the likes of Scott Fraser, Val Kamensky, Chris Tamer, Alexandre Daigle and Kevin Hatcher would fit nicely. 

“This, to me, we didn’t have what it took to start a hockey game and be successful,” said head coach Peter Laviolette, who has grown increasingly frustrated over his team’s inability to play consistently competitive hockey. “It’s frustrating because we are back in our building.”