Rangers blow three-goal lead in brutal overtime loss to Stars

In a season full of disappointments, this was positioned to become the latest.

The Rangers had erupted for three goals across the opening 11:24.

Then, they’d watched that lead evaporate as the Stars controlled possession, kept generating chances and eventually pulled even before the second period ended.

They couldn’t keep a late lead in the final minutes, either.

And they failed to escape in overtime, when Jamie Benn scored to clinch the Blueshirts’ 5-4 loss and mark their latest failed attempt at securing back-to-back wins for the first time since November.

This loss might’ve come at a cost for a Rangers group that’s already banged up.

Forward Filip Chytil, who has a history of injuries, exited with an upper-body injury and didn’t return.

His final shift ended with around four minutes left in the second frame. He wasn’t on the Blueshirts bench to start the third.

Trocheck gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead with just over seven minutes remaining when he tipped in a Mika Zibanejad shot from in front of the net — occupying the power-play spot that usually belongs to an injured Chris Kreider — for his second goal of the game to snap a brutal 1-for-31 stretch from the unit.

But K’Andre Miller committed a turnover tucked in the corner of his own end, and after some cycling, Thomas Harley capitalized on his shooting lane and scored with 2:39 remaining to force the extra time.

Before the Rangers blew their pair of leads, plenty of promising signs emerged to suggest that strides in recent games weren’t flukes.

When the Rangers made their playoff run last year, this was the version of Lafreniere that carried them.

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And when they earned points in six of their opening seven matches to start the 2024-25 campaign, that rendition of Lafreniere ignited their offense with four goals and seven points.

For most of the 32 games that followed, which coincided with the stretch following his massive seven-year extension, Lafreniere’s numbers plummeted.

He slumped through a 13-game goal drought and collected just two since Nov. 21.

But that changed just seven minutes into the opening frame, when Artemi Panarin dropped a pass back to Lafreniere on a rush and the winger snapped a shot past Jake Oettinger.

Less than five minutes later, Panarin flipped another puck out of the Rangers zone to spark a breakaway for Lafreniere that secured his first multi-goal game since May 26.

In between, Vincent Trocheck tipped in a Will Borgen shot — and the Rangers, despite some early chance for the Stars, had a commanding lead.

These are the 2024-25 Rangers, though. Zibanejad had another brutal turnover that would’ve led to a goal if he didn’t recover and knock the puck out of the crease.

Urho Vaakanainen deflected a puck into the Rangers net, Evgenii Dadonov knocked in a rebound and then Jason Robertson curled around the net, collected possession and backhanded the tying goal past Quick. Dallas hit the post a pair of times in the second, too.

Then, they took their only lead of the night when it mattered.

The Rangers’ attempt to claw back into the wild-card hunt won’t get any easier, either.

Kreider hit injured reserve Monday with an upper-body injury. Star goaltender Igor Shesterkin remains on IR with the same label, though he could return as early as Thursday.

And then there’s the Chytil variable, too. More lineup shuffling — after claiming Arthur Kaliyev off waivers and getting Matt Rempe back from his suspension — could follow from head coach Peter Laviolette.

The Blueshirts’ next three games against the Devils, Golden Knights and Avalanche all feature opponents near the top of the standings.

At some point, if they’re going to save their season, the Rangers will need to go on runs, to win multiple games, to make sure leads as large as the three-goal one they had against the Stars don’t disappear and result in losses. Tuesday was another missed chance.