Stepan slowdown a familiar struggle

Derek Stepan is not expected to lead the Rangers in goals, but it seems that every year, there comes a lull like this one that keeps him from being the undisputed topline center that every team in the NHL so desperately needs.

And that fact helps to continually keep the Rangers as an interested party at this time of year, with the trade deadline looming Wednesday at 3 p.m. and any chance to add top-six talent has to be taken into serious consideration.

So Sunday’s sloppy and tired 5-2 loss to the Blue Jackets at the Garden was game No. 16 for Stepan without a goal. He now has just 12 through 62 games. He has never scored more than the 22 goals he tallied last season, although the 18 in the lockout-shortened 48-game season of 2012-13 would certainly have eclipsed that.

“It’s been a struggle,” Stepan told The Post on Sunday, his team getting Monday off before playing host to the league-leading Capitals on Tuesday at the Garden.

“I think obviously I’m doing a lot of good things, and I’ve gotten the opportunities, but I just can’t find the back of the net. I think it’s 16 games where I haven’t been able to find it. It’s certainly something that I want to do. I want to score. I’m trying real hard, but sometimes you start gripping the stick harder and start overthinking things.”

Stepan’s drought last season wasn’t quite this bad, but he did have a 14-game stretch around this time of year with just one goal. In 2014-15, he had just three goals in his first 20 games of the season (that coming after he broke his leg while doing on-ice testing in training camp).

“I’m just going to keep focusing on doing the right thing and playing the right way,” Stepan said, “and hopefully the guys take care of me and allow me to get a funky one.”