Rangers shut out again at home in loss to Capitals

The Rangers have yet to score a goal at home this season.

There have been just two games at Madison Square Garden, but the Blueshirts have been shut out on both occasions after failing to find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to the Capitals on Sunday night.

It wasn’t a matter of effort, energy or consistency — but an inability to finish against a hot goaltender.

“I thought the team played extremely well, and that’s what I said to the guys after the game,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “For our coaching staff, we’re most concerned about how we play, how we win and how we lose. Sometimes, you can’t control whether the puck goes in the net or not. I thought from an effort standpoint, determination, our attitude — for me, this type of game is the kind of game that we’re trying to build. We had our looks. We had some great looks.

“They got some key saves at key times, give them credit. … If we continue to play with that kind of an effort and that kind of focus and attention to detail, I think we’re going to win more games than we lose. That’s for sure.”

Charlie Lindgren was impenetrable in Washington’s net through 60 minutes, stopping 13 shots in the middle frame alone on the way to 35 saves on the night.

The Rangers attacked every which way, especially in the second period, but nothing was getting by Lindgren.

At one point in the middle frame, Lindgren robbed Mika Zibanejad on a two-on-one rush with Artemi Panarin, who set the Swede up for a blistering one-timer that the Capitals netminder gloved down in a highlight-reel save.

Whether it was a full Rangers power play in the Capitals zone or a strong five-on-five shift, Lindgren was sharp for 60 minutes.

This game may have seen a much stronger effort from the Rangers than their season-opening clunker against the Penguins, but they have still gone 120 minutes without a goal in front of their home fans.

“We talked after the first game of the year and how you lose, and that was unacceptable,” Rangers captain J.T. Miller said. “But I think we can hang our hat [on] how we worked today. Created a lot of offense, felt like we outplayed them for a majority of the game. We can sleep better tonight knowing that we played a much better game.”

Lindgren, of course, is the brother of former Ranger Ryan Lindgren, whom the Blueshirts traded to Colorado last season before he signed with the Kraken as a free agent this summer. After the last time the Rangers saw Lindgren in goal, the Washington netminder sounded like he took his brother’s departure personally in his postgame interview.

“I know for a fact they’re definitely going to miss him,” he said at the time.

The Capitals registered the first and only goal at the 13:47 mark of the second period, when Anthony Beauvillier tipped an Alex Ovechkin shot past Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick.

The Rangers didn’t give up much through 60 minutes, but the one goal proved to be enough.

Limiting the Capitals to under 10 shots in each period, the Rangers surrendered just six high-danger chances, per Natural Stat Trick.

“I think this was the best game we played all year, the most complete game that we’ve played all year,” Sullivan said. “Against a really good team. I thought the guys played hard. Both teams were coming off back-to-backs. I thought both teams had pretty good energy given that circumstance.”