Straining Rangers jeopardizing chance for best-case playoff scenario

The grind seems to have caught up to the Rangers. That’s the only semi-acceptable explanation for the team’s inability to come up with a representative effort in Thursday’s 4-1 defeat at the Garden to a Flyers team weighed down by an eight-game losing streak (0-6-2) while outscored by 23 goals.

There was a lack of precision, a lack of energy and a lack of will in this one as the Rangers dropped their second straight in regulation for the first time since Jan. 18-20 and their third in the last six games.

They are straining for the finish line, straining to lock up both first place in the East and in the Metropolitan Division that would, A) grant the Rangers home-ice advantage for at least the first three rounds of the tournament; and, B, and equally as important, would avoid a first-round matchup with Tampa Bay.

This is all in jeopardy now. The Rangers are three points ahead of both the Hurricanes (in the Metro) and the Bruins in the East, with both of those clubs having three games to play as opposed to the Blueshirts’ two.

The Rangers still have control of their own destiny with a magic number of four points. If they defeat the Islanders at home on Saturday and the Senators in the finale at the Garden on Monday, they’re in. If not, they will need help. This is the consequence of losing this week to the Islanders on Tuesday and the Flyers in this one.

“We’ve put ourselves in a tighter spot so these are two big games coming up,” said Jacob Trouba, who lent some physicality to the effort but continued to struggle with his puck decisions. “We’ll treat them accordingly.”