NEW YORK – It could be argued that the Rangers played better in Tuesday’s loss than in a few recent victories, but they don’t play games for consolation prizes.

They had an opportunity to beat the NHL-leading Jets at Madison Square Garden and let it slip through their fingers, with a few costly mistakes resulting in a 6-3 loss. It was New York’s fourth loss in its last eight games, while Winnipeg improved to 15-1 in a record-breaking start to the season.

“When you play against this team, you need more discipline,” said forward Artemi Panarin. “It’s like a playoff game.”

Analysis: Will the Rangers be exposed against the NHL’s best Jets? Or take up the challenge?

The Rangers (9-4-1) faced the hottest team in North America and held on, at least until the final period.

They notably generated a more consistent offensive push than we had seen in recent weeks by outscoring the Jets, 36-33. But a few posts and a strong outing from reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, who finished with 33 saves, kept them from posting a higher total.

“I thought we played a really good team game,” Panarin said. “Everyone tried hard, hit people. We put the puck in, worked for it, won the battles and made a lot of shots too. It’s just that it happens sometimes. I can’t say that We were the worst team tonight, but they won the game.”

The Blueshirts fixed some of the issues that plagued them, particularly when it came to getting the puck out of their own zone and moving forward, but Winnipeg was cleaner. And when the Rangers missed the puck or made bad decisions, the Jets pounced.

“We played a solid game,” said Filip Chytil. “We played hard. In the end, we had more shots on goal than the opponent. But they scored more goals than us and they took advantage of the odd moments they had. … We have to help our team more goalkeepers, because five or six goals (allowed) is still a lot.”

Mika Zibanejad’s costly turnovers

The most critical mistakes came from Mika Zibanejad, who had spurts of looking like the old Mika on Tuesday, but it always seems urgent at inopportune times.

“I can’t speak for Mika and his situation,” Laviolette said when asked if he felt frustration from Zibanejad. “I know we’re counting on Mika. He’s an impact player for us. Not him, but sometimes when you push offensively to try to make things happen, things can go the other way.”

It started on Zibanejad’s very first shift, when he tried to pass to Panarin, but the new teammates were clearly not on the same page.

Panarin wasn’t expecting the puck, which went straight to Josh Morrissey, who then slipped an easy pass to Mark Scheifele in front of the New York net.

“I thought we were leaving on the first shift and leaving right away,” Laviolette said. “I thought we were on point, and it looked like we were making a mistake in the game, and it ended up costing us. It turns around quickly. There’s a lot of isolated incidents out there where, right now, They are the best team in the league, and they make you pay. They score a lot of goals. They did that to us.

Will Cuylle answered for the Rangers by burying a Braden Schneider rebound later in the period to tie the score at 1-1, but the Jets’ chasing theme continued throughout the evening.

Gabe Vilardi gave Winnipeg the lead again, 2-1, with a nice power play goal at 8:58 of the second period. Alexis Lafrenière equalized a few minutes later with a PPG of his own, but before the end of the period, another Zibanejad turnover came back to bite them.

He successfully attempted a breathed pass after carrying the puck into the offensive zone, triggering a quick attack from the Jets returning directly to the Rangers. Kyle Connor ended the two-on-one run with a wrist shot that beat Igor Shesterkin on the short side to make it 3-2 for Winnipeg with 3:57 left in the second period.

Zibanejad’s third strike began the final frame. Vilardi picked his pocket as No. 93 held the puck in the neutral zone, with the Jets turning the ensuing possession into Scheifele’s second goal of the game. That pushed their lead to 4-2 with 18:52 to play, and although Kaapo Kakko scored an early goal to bring the Rangers back within a point, they couldn’t dig themselves out of that final hole.

With 6:52 left, Vladislav Namestnikov made it 5-3 to dash the Rangers’ comeback hopes. Connor’s empty goal in the last minute was the final straw.

“Whether it’s in terms of decisions with the puck, or whether it’s being a little more responsible when applying pressure in the offensive zone, there are certainly situations where we could have done things better,” said declared Laviolette, who was careful not to direct any criticism specifically to Zibanejad. “Offensively, I still think we were on offense. It’s one of those games where you’re hitting – trying to hit them and generate offense, and sometimes you have to cover and make sure you don’t come back and bleed in the other direction And these incidents, they cost us dearly.

Some advantages, but more disadvantages

The Cuylle-Chytil-Kakko line was New York’s best, as it has been for much of the season.

They were the only one of the four starting lines to finish positive in goals (2-0), shots (9-6) and high-danger scoring chances (3-0), according to Natural Stat Trick. As a trio, they have outscored their opponents 11-0 so far this season.

“They were good,” Laviolette said. “It was more of a simple play – a simpler approach for that line, where they were putting the puck behind the defense, they were using our defenders, they were able to shoot pucks from distance and they were heading towards the They ended up in the business of scoring goals and helping create, simply by hitting the net on point shots.

On the opposite side was the Panarin-Zibanejad-Lafrenière line. They finished with a score of minus-4 while being dominated, 9-2, in 8:40 on the ice. Three of these goals against were directly linked to a Zibanejad turnover.

Laviolette subtly acknowledged these difficulties by replacing Zibanejad with Vincent Trocheck during the third period, saying, “It was just to give a different look.”

The fact is that it is increasingly difficult to justify not returning to this arrangement on a more permanent basis. Zibanejad is stuck on three points at five-on-five (one goal and two assists) in 14 games played, with Panarin and Lafrenière also being dragged down. They were the two top scorers for Rangers when this line was formed on November 2 but have combined for just three 5v5 points in four matches since.

It was an equally tough performance for the K’Andre Miller-Jacob Trouba defensive pairing, who were minus-three on Tuesday and are now minus-seven in their last four games together.

They’ve been on the ice for seven of the Rangers’ 11 goals allowed at 5-on-5 during that span and are looking increasingly disjointed. Miller, in particular, went into a tailspin after a fairly promising start to the season playing alongside Adam Fox.

“It’s not always just a reflection on them,” Laviolette said when asked about those lopsided margins before the game. “The defense is a five-man unit. There’s a lot of things that could have happened before the puck went into the net. Right now, I’m just trying to give it some time and let things settle down, and then we “I’ll evaluate.”

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat the USA TODAY network reporter. Read more of his work on lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared in the Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mika Zibanejad at the center of Rangers’ mistakes in loss to Jets