GLENDALE, Ariz. — It started and ended where it always does these days for the Rangers — with a bad penalty compounded by atrocious penalty-killing.
Once Brendan Smith (scratched the previous three games) took a mindless elbowing penalty at 6:37 of the first, the Blueshirts were done. Conor Garland scored on a deflection in front at 7:19, and the rout was on.
The 5-0 blowout by the 26th-overall Coyotes on Sunday afternoon came as Henrik Lundqvist surrendered all five goals on 32 shots before being pulled at 16:38 of the second period.
“Right now we’re a team that does not have a lot of confidence, I can tell you that much,” Mats Zuccarello told The Post.