After a week in which the Rangers went 1-2-1, there was expectedly a fall-off in the Rangers’ recent surge in the power rankings. The Rangers’ week looked to get off to a great start when they battled the Devils to a 1-0 loss in the shootout. Then they lost to another Brodeur, Mike, and the scoring difficulties continued until they faced the Canadiens, which could’ve righted the ship on many writers’ minds this week. Let’s see how the Rangers faired:

NHL FanHouse, who releases their rankings on Fridays, slid the Rangers back five spots, to 21st. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun dropped the Rangers six sports, to 20th, and has the Rangers as the lowest ranked Atlantic Division team.

TSN, who had the Rangers 15th last week, moved them up a spot this week, saying:

Broke through for a big win against the Habs on Sunday, but goals are still an issue for the Blueshirts. They’ve gone 1-for-19 (5.3%) on the power play in the last six games and it’s no coincidence that the team’s goal-scoring woes tie directly to Marian Gaborik‘s mini-slump, since he’s their one consistent source of offence.

CBS Sports’ Wes Goldstein moved the Rangers five spots lower, to 17th overall, and has them sandwiched in between the Islanders and Flyers. Finally, SI’s Allan Muir also has the Rangers at 17th, four spots beneath last week’s spot.

…No surprises here. The Rangers have an excellent opportunity to again reverse fortunes and trend upwards in the rankings this week against some weaker competition. But they’ve been too inconsistent to predict such results.