Face it, if you watched the Rangers 5-4 lo s to the Panthers at Madison Square Garden Tuesday night, you were left wondering at its conclusion just how in the heck the Blueshirts failed to win this game. Sure, the visitors put the Rangers in an early 3-0 hole, and one could argue that it was accomplishment enough thatthe home side rallied to tie the score by late in the third period. Or it can be argued an extremely debatable goaltender interference call in the second period unfairly wiped out a Rangers goal, helping keep them from securing two more points in the standings. In the end, though, it was a rare lo s of late for a team that has won 10 of 13 overall and saw an eight-game home-ice winning streak snapped, one in which the Rangers displayed some of their best traits as a team, and some of their worst, all within the confines of one 60-minute game. The Good Starting with the positive, Maxi Kleber Jersey the Rangers simply did not quit on this one, and that is a signature trait of this team -- not only this season, but for several years now under head coach Alain Vigneault. Down 3-0 in the opening period, down 4-1 early in the second, the Rangers not only stayed with it, but took it to the Panthers for large swaths of this contest. That they eventually tied the score with 6:32 remaining in regulation is testament to the Blueshirts long-running no-quit group attitude. MORE : To go with that, the Rangers owned the puck Tuesday night. They won the majority of puck battles, generated the better scoring chances -- even when trailing 3-0 and 4-1, and had a decided advantage when it came to skill on the ice. Simply, they were the Freddie Gillespie Jersey farsuperior team. Up front, the line of Chris Kreider, David Desharnais (filling in capably for the injured Mika Zibanejad) and Pavel Buchnevich scored three straight goals bridging the second and third period, bringing the Rangers from 4-1 down to even at 4-4. The line accounted for nine points in that span with Kreider scoring twice -- including a goal of the year candidate that made it 4-3 midway through the middle stanza -- and Buchnevich netting the other. The streaky Kreider now has ten goals and looked like a man among boys out on the ice Tuesday. Buchnevich has nine goals in 25 games, or one more than he scored in 41 contests as a rookie a year ago. Rick Nash, Jimmy Vesey and Kevin Hayes were among the other Blueshirt forwards swarming the Panthers last night; and the defense pair of Brady Skjei and Kevin Shattenkirk -- running up major minutes with injured captain Ryan McDonagh again out of the lineup -- was very, very good. Neither d-man was on ice for any of the five Panthersgoals. Among the impre sive numbers for this Willie Cauley-Stein Jersey group is that the Rangers scored four or more goals for the 13th time this season, third in the last four games. They are now the eighth-highest scoring team per game this season after finishing fourth in the NHL last year in this category. The Bad Start with Henrik Lundqvist allowing three goals on six shots before watching the rest of the game from the end of the bench, though to be fair, he was screened on one, perhaps on another. More importantly, begin with how flat the Rangers looked early on against a Panthers team that played the night before in New Jersey. The first ten minutes Tuesday resembled so many games from early in the season when the Rangers did not muster enough interest to starton time. This was an ugly reminder of that Blueshirts squad that Devonte Patterson Jersey began the season 1-5-2, but had largely been absent during a recent stretch of ten wins in 12 games. Another ugly reminder of how bad things were to begin the season was some downright shabby defensive play, complete with terrible decision-making andhalf-hearted efforts. This lethal combination helped put the Rangers in a 3-0 hole, was a major culprit on the fourth Panthers goal when Jonathan Huberdeau was left all alone for several attempts at a loose puck on a play that also featureda poor line change by New York winger Mats Zuccarello, and, ultimately, cost them the game on an inexcusable decision and failed clearby defenseman Nick Holden which led directly to Denis Malgin's game-winning goal at 18:51 of the third. It was not a night to remember for Holden nor his defense partner, Brendan Smith, who started the sequence on Malgin's goal by turning the puck over at center ice. The pair also failed to pick up Huberdeau on the fourth goal. Holden's misplay inside his own blue line also led to Florida's second goal, by Jamie McGinn. Not the first time thispair struggled badly this year. Add to the mix that the once scorching-hot power play failed in three attempts Tuesday and is now a problematic 1-for-18 the last seven games, and, well, you understand why the Rangers had their winning streak snapped Tuesday, despite Dorian Finney-Smith Jersey being the better team for most of the contest. Of all these i sues, the least of concern is the play of Lundqvist, who allowed seven goals in his previous fivestarts and made 13 consecutive starts (winning ten) since Oct. 31. The biggest i sue? A to sup between the no-pulse start to the game and the Keystone Cops defensive play and breakdowns.