The Rangers’ struggles to find the back of the net, particularly on home ice, have been exacerbated by their faltering power play. As they took to the ice on Tuesday, they were already grappling with an 0-for-9 record in their last four games with a man advantage. Unfortunately, their woes continued with a 0-for-3 performance in a 3-0 defeat to the Carolina Hurricanes at Madison Square Garden.

Adding salt to the wound, the Hurricanes opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the first period, setting the tone for the rest of the game.

In the aftermath of the loss, head coach Mike Sullivan suggested that changes might be on the horizon for the underperforming power-play unit.

“We’ve stuck with this group because both visually and analytically, they’ve been generating quality opportunities,” Sullivan explained. “However, there comes a time when adjustments are necessary, and we’re prepared to make those changes if needed.”

“One of the reasons we stayed with the group we had to this point is we felt like, both from the eye test and analytically, this group has done a pretty good job as far as generating quality looks,” Sullivan said. “At some point, maybe we need to make some adjustments and we’ll certainly do that.” 

For the season, the Rangers have been among the worst teams in the league on the power play, and Adam Fox, part of that first power-play unit, acknowledged the recent failure and how much it’s impacted the team. 

“Power plays are difference-makers,” Fox said. “They get one [Tuesday]. We don’t. That’s the difference right there, especially early in the game.” 

Fox called special teams “a huge factor. It’s definitely cost us a few games.” 

And Mika Zibanejad was once again left bewildered by the inability of the Rangers to come through in 5-on-4 situations. 

“I don’t know,” Zibanejad said. “We keep talking about stuff we do well. We had maybe three or four grade A [chances]. We have to find a way to put the puck in the net.” 

With two days before their next game in Detroit, the Rangers have a chance to work on that aspect of their game. 

“We’ll tweak it,” Sullivan said. “We’re gonna try to do our best to find solutions and give these guys something to hang their hat on. We can go at this maybe a little bit of a different way.” 

K’Andre Miller returned to Madison Square Garden for the first time since his July trade to Carolina, but missed the game with a lower-body injury. 

He reflected on his five years with the Rangers after being the team’s first-round pick in 2018. 

“Confidence-wise and just what I wanted from myself, I wasn’t getting a lot of the results I wanted here,” Miller said at Carolina’s morning skate at MSG. “I blame myself for that. I had some struggles throughout my years here. The ups and downs, I think, just kind of took a toll and was in my head for a lot of the time I was here.” 

Miller joined Carolina on a sign-and-trade, inking an eight-year deal worth $60 million. 

“He couldn’t have played much better at the start,” Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “It’s the range. It’s his skating ability. We might be almost burned, but we close it off because we got two extra feet of reach. And then his skating ability fits perfectly, getting up the ice and doing everything.” 

Defenseman Urho Vaakanainen was sidelined Tuesday after being held out of practice Monday with a lower-body injury. Matthew Robertson filled in for Vaakanainen. 

— with AP