Rangers suffer first defeat of season with road loss to Jets

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The first week and the first road trip of the season are in the books for the Rangers, and though the Blueshirts weren’t able to get through it undefeated, they still can feel pretty good about themselves.

Looking to start the season 3-0 for the first time since 2015-16, the Rangers instead suffered their first loss Friday night, falling to the Winnipeg Jets, 4-1.

Sam Gagner got behind the Rangers’ defense and beat goaltender Jaroslav Halak with 4:25 remaining in the third period to break a 1-1 tie.

Mark Scheifele scored two goals for the Jets, the second coming on a power play with 1:27 remaining to give Winnipeg a 3-1 lead. Kyle Connor added an empty-net goal with 19.9 seconds left. Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 40 of 41 shots.

“We were not great in the first, I thought we played a real good second, and then the third I think we ran out of gas,’’ Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. “So we made a lot of mistakes in the defensive zone, which usually happens from mental mistakes and tired mistakes. We created a lot of chances, but we just gave up way too much.’’

After a 1-1 trip to Minnesota and Winnipeg, the Rangers return home with a 2-1 record. They will face old friend Ryan Strome and the Anaheim Ducks on Monday at Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers trailed 1-0 after two periods Friday before Dryden Hunt, playing his second game in place of the injured Vitali Kravtsov, tied it at 3:55 of the third. He took a cross-ice pass from Vincent Trocheck, stopped it in his skates and lifted a shot over Hellebuyck’s shoulder and into the top of the net.

At that point, the Rangers, who had been so impressive in their wins over Tampa Bay and Minnesota and who seemed to be slowly taking control of the game after a sluggish start, seemed destined to find a way to win. But Gagner got behind the defense and found himself one-on-one against Halak, making his first start of the season. Halak made a save on the first shot, but Gagner backhanded in his own rebound to score his first goal of the season.

“Hellebuyck was real good, but Halak was real good, too,’’ Gallant said. “I mean, they had great chances from the slot. We gave up way too much in there. So good goaltending, but it was a shame we couldn’t get at least a point out of there tonight.’’

Playing a back-to-back for the first time figured to be a test for the Rangers, coming off a 7-3 win over the Wild on Thursday. They looked a step slow early in the game, but Halak was solid. He kept the Jets, playing their season opener, at bay until his teammates could find their legs.

Winnipeg took a 1-0 lead at 10:29. Nikolaj Ehlers beat Ryan Carpenter to retrieve a dump-in from Scheifele behind the net, came out from behind the net and backhanded a pass to the top of the slot, where Scheifele skated onto it and whipped it over Halak’s catching glove.

The Rangers were outshot 13-10 in the first period but began to pick things up in the second, outshooting Winnipeg 21-7. But while the volume of shots was great, the quality of them may not have been, with a few exceptions.

Chris Kreider had one of those with 1:07 left in the period and the Rangers on a power play. Mika Zibanejad’s diagonal feed hit Kreider in the upper body and dropped to the ice, but by the time Kreider got his stick there to whack at the puck, Hellebuyck was able to get over in time to make the save.

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.