Rangers’ biggest strength has become major liability

Sports

Clockwise from top left: Ryan McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Dan Boyle and Marc StaalThese Rangers always have found their strength from the net out. The star and centerpiece is goalie Henrik Lundqvist, and the foundation of how the team plays lies with the core group of defensemen.

But the start to this season has been an odd one — a lot of wins and a lot of poor play from the Blueshirts’ blue line. It only is during the recent six-game stretch of 1-4-1 that the problem seems to be manifesting itself in the standings.

Captain Ryan McDonagh, along with alternate captains Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, all had offseason injuries to deal with that delayed their training and led to slow starts.…