David Desharnais and Ondrej Pavalec defend against the Golden Knights' Tomas Nosek in the second period of the Rangers' 2-1 loss Sunday.
LAS VEGAS — Just because it was better doesn’t mean it was good. And now the Rangers have a whole week to think about it.
In the final game before their five-day bye week, and in the first trip here to face the Golden Knights, the Rangers were subpar for the second straight night, this time suffering a 2-1 loss Sunday night at T-Mobile Arena.
Following up a 2-1 shootout win in Arizona on Saturday that almost solely was on the back of Henrik Lundqvist, coach Alain Vigneault decided to turn to his backup, Ondrej Pavelec, and mix things up by scratching his third-leading scorer, Pavel Buchnevich, as well as veteran defenseman Brendan Smith.