3 takeaways from the Rangers' recent road trip

The bomb dropped on the Rangers before they left last week for their four-game road trip to Philadelphia and California when general manager Chris Drury announced to the team, and to the public, that the organization “must be honest and realistic about our situation’’ and will undergo a “retool’’ and be sellers at the NHL’s March 6 trade deadline.

The Rangers rallied for a feel-good win over the Flyers on Jan. 17 but then lost all three games in California to finish the trip at 1-3. They are 1-7-1 in their last nine games and 2-9-2 in their last 13.

Here are three takeaways from the road trip:

1. Reality has set in, and it’s not pretty

The win in Philadelphia had players thinking that perhaps guys would be free from pressure and looser and might be able to win some games. They scored first in Anaheim and led 2-1, but they gave up a power-play goal to Alex Killorn just before the end of the second period to fall behind 3-2, gave up a goal off a turnover 61 seconds into the third period to make it 4-2, and ended up with a  5-3 loss. That proved to be the beginning of the end of any feel-good vibes.

Friday’s 3-1 loss to the young and exciting San Jose Sharks left the Rangers 11 points out of a playoff spot with 30 games left in the season. They are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

“It’s tough to stay positive in a time like this,’’ Vincent Trocheck said. “You’ve got to do things to get guys to loosen up, loosen their sticks a little bit. Play hockey. Have fun with it. Remember why you play the game.’’

2. They have to start faster

If the Rangers are going to give themselves a chance to be spoilers or make any sort of noise in the final 30 games, they need to start better. Adrian Kempe’s goal 18 seconds into Tuesday's game in Los Angeles put them squarely behind the 8-ball in what ended up being a not-as-close-as-it-looks 4-3 loss. In San Jose, two early penalties and two subsequent power-play goals had them down 2-0 just 3:08 into that game. Coach Mike Sullivan burned his timeout after the second goal to settle the team down, but the Rangers fell behind 3-0 at the 7:37 mark of the first period. Despite playing much better and hanging in there the rest of the game, they ended up with a 3-1 loss.

“We’ve got to have a readiness from the drop of the puck,’’ a disappointed Sullivan said after Friday’s game. “The last few games, we haven't had the best starts, so I’ve got to do a better job preparing them for it, I guess. I’ve got to find a way to make sure they're ready from the drop of the puck.’’

3. Is this it for Quick?

We may be seeing the final days of future Hall of Fame goalie Jonathan Quick's career. After Igor Shesterkin was injured in the first period of the Jan. 5 game against the Utah Mammoth, Quick came on in relief and played well, but the Rangers lost in overtime. He started — and lost — the next four games, and in two of the last three, the 10-2 humiliation in Boston and the 8-4 embarrassment at home against Ottawa, he allowed six goals and was pulled from the net. Journeyman Spencer Martin, whom the Rangers signed in midseason after he started the year in the KHL, got the start in Philly, then in Anaheim. Quick got to go against his old team, the Kings,  but Martin started the trip finale in San Jose, meaning he’s started three of the last four games.

Quick started the season strongly but now has lost 12 straight games. There’ve been more than a few games in which he’s played well enough to win, but the team in front of him hasn’t, so it’s not as if he’s played poorly. But things won’t get better once Drury starts trading away players. Quick’s 407 career victories are the most by an American-born goaltender, but he has only three this season (3-11-2) and none since Nov. 7. There’s no assurance he’ll get any more.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.