Poor power play leaves team ‘demoralized’

The Rangers have scored just two power-play goals in their past 31 man-advantage opportunities, with the last one coming at the beginning of this month.

But according to head coach David Quinn, the six unsuccessful chances on the power play in Friday’s 1-0 loss to the Bruins at the Garden not only contributed to the team’s lack of offense, but “deflated” and “sucked the life out of ” his Rangers.

“We’re passing when we should shoot, we shoot when we should pass and we just make bad decisions and we’re slow,” Quinn said. “We’re not going to go anywhere with a power play clicking the way it is and looking the way it is and our guys know that.

“The good news is, we’ve got all the guys back from last year, for the most part, that were one of the top power plays in the league. We just got to be better and they all know it. I think they’re demoralized, I think they’ve lost a little bit of the swagger on the power play. Power plays can be streaky and ours is at an all-time low streak.”

Entering Friday’s matchup, the Rangers ranked eighth in the league in power-play opportunities per game (3.82) while their six man-advantage goals are good for 24th in the NHL.

➤ Bruins winger Nick Ritchie registered the lone goal of the game when he stuffed the puck past Igor Shesterkin at 9:27 of the second period.

“I let the puck in, I had to get a little tighter to the post,” the rookie netminder said through a translator following the loss. “I’m going to work on this component in practice. It’s disappointing that this was the goal that made the difference in the game.”

Shesterkin, whose record dropped to 3-4-1, grew noticeably heated after Ritchie appeared to elbow him in the head following a whistle later in the game. Asked if his own emotions helped him stay focused or made it more difficult, Shesterkin pointed to the team’s aggressiveness as a whole.

“We played aggressive and stood up for each other as teammates,” he said. “We tried to continue playing hockey despite all the aggressiveness in the game.”

The 25-year-old finished the night with 29 saves.

➤ The Blueshirts have killed off 21 consecutive power-play opportunities by their opponents for the first time since a stretch from Dec. 8 to Dec. 18 in 2016.