Rangers can't find footing on home ice

NEW YORK -- Home hasn't been kind to the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs recently.
The Rangers lost 5-0 to the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference First Round series at Madison Square Garden on Thursday, their fifth straight playoff loss at home. They have been shut out three times and outscored 18-3 in that span.

"We haven't scored at home ... the other team has been defending really well and we haven't found a way to create enough," Rangers defenseman Marc Staal said.
New York trails the best-of-7 series 3-1 with Game 5 in Pittsburgh on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; NBC, SN360, TVA Sports).
The Rangers lost Game 3 3-1 here on Tuesday. Last season, they lost their final three home games of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning following a 2-1 win in Game 1. The Rangers lost that series in seven games. They lost Game 2 6-2 and Games 5 and 7 each 2-0.

"It's definitely out of character for this group to come up with this type of performance," Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said Thursday. "I don't think it was lack of will, we just picked a very bad night to have a very bad game."
Also out of character was goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who allowed four goals on 18 shots and was pulled in the second period after playing 26:04. Lundqvist allowed five goals on 72 shots in the first three games of the series.
"I'm just going to say I was not good enough," Lundqvist said. "It was just a really bad game. I need to be better, simple as that. I don't need to say more than that.
"I'm going to go to practice tomorrow, work hard, and try to be on top of it in the next one. We're going to need it."
The Rangers were 27-10-4 at home and lost back-to-back games in regulation once here this season. They've managed to do that in their past two playoff games, and it has them one loss from being eliminated.

"Obviously, we know what our situation is; our season's on the line here," New York captain Ryan McDonagh said. "We have to believe in each other in the room. ... No one is going to get out of this hole that we've created but the guys in the room."
Staal was quick to forget about the home woes and turn the page to the road and Game 5 at Consol Energy Center.
"It's playoffs. Game-to-game can change very quickly," he said. "Obviously we are disappointed in the situation we are in. We are frustrated with the way the night turned out. Now it's done and all we can do is focus on the next game. We are going to focus on going into Pittsburgh and playing a great game and trying to get a win."