The Rangers are struggling defensively to demoralize the loss to the Capitals

The New York Rangers didn't look like themselves after their 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals on Tuesday night.

The Rangers were on their heels from the start of the night as Alex Ovechkin scored minutes into the game.

Matt Rempe made things interesting when he battled Dylan McIlrath in his first back shift since being recalled from the American Hockey League.

However, Rempe's struggles changed nothing. Despite Will Cuylle's goal, the Rangers were dominated.

New York fired a total of 19 shots in the first frame and was down 3-1 after 20 minutes of play.

The Rangers picked up the pace of play ever so slightly in the second half, with Chris Kreider and Filip Chytil both finding the net.

Washington still dictated the tempo and let the Rangers play their way, something this team isn't used to at all.

Even when the Rangers pressed, they struggled to create quality scoring opportunities and it was as if New York was being suffocated by the Capitals' defense.

Meanwhile, the Rangers had one too many defensive errors, which has continued to be a problem of late.

The problem was that the Rangers chased the game all night, which is always a recipe for disaster.

“From faceoffs to defensive zone coverage to our play in the offensive zone, we followed the game. We haven't gotten much better at it. From the second to the third we had a good mood, but not enough.”

You can analyze the game any way you want, but it's clear that the Capitals were better in every way.

“They had more shots than us, they were more aggressive, I think they put up more fights than us,” Chytil said. “It was a tough game for us.”

The Rangers will be back in action on Friday night against the Ottawa Senators.