Rangers hit new low with loss to NHL-worst Blackhawks

The losses are piling up for the Rangers, and frustration is mounting.

Falling to the worst team in the NHL, the Blackhawks, 2-1 Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the Blueshirts hit a new low in a season that is only 27 games old but has seen more chaos than most organizations do in years.

Heck, there might be a tampering investigation this week.

It has not done the Rangers’ on-ice product any favors, but the disconnect began way before president and general manager Chris Drury’s leaked trade memo, Jacob Trouba’s harsh exit to Anaheim and Ottawa’s accusations regarding The Post’s report of the team’s interest in Senators captain Brady Tkachuk.

The Rangers have been shackled by self-inflicted mistakes time and time again.

A lack of physicality, drive and cohesion has continuously hindered their competitiveness.

There hasn’t been a spark to their game in way longer than they’d presumably like to admit.

This is who the Rangers have been for almost all of this season.

Coincidentally, the Rangers hadn’t lost to the Blackhawks since Trouba chucked his helmet on the ice out of frustration on Dec. 3, 2022.

They could’ve used a bit of that — even just a morsel — to revive what has been a lethargic lineup.

The Islanders now have a chance to pull ahead of the Rangers (two games in hand) into fourth place in the Metropolitan Division standings if they beat the Kings on Tuesday night on Long Island.

Breaking a 1-1 tie built in the first period, Blackhawks wing Taylor Hall finished a 2-on-1 rush with Connor Bedard to regain the lead for his team at the 6:16 mark of the middle frame.

Hall led both teams with two points in an energetic performance under the pinwheel ceiling of MSG.

The same ceiling that caused Rangers fans’ boos to soar around the lower bowl.

The Rangers had generated a multitude of Grade-A chances before the Blackhawks capitalized on a Mika Zibanejad turnover to strike first in the opening period.

Coughing the puck up behind the Rangers net on a weak attempt to rim the puck around the boards, Zibanejad gave it up right to Hall, who zipped a pass across the zone to Tyler Bertuzzi for the 1-0 lead.

Zibanejad continues to look like a shell of himself.

The Swedish center has always been revered for his defensive game, but it has been a weak point for him this season in addition to the offensive struggles.

Two giveaways, two shots on goal and a minus-one rating proved to be Zibanejad’s final stat line Monday night.

On the Blackhawks’ first power play, however, the Rangers evened the score at one-all with a shorthanded goal.

Sam Carrick attacked the net with the puck before Will Cuylle cleaned up the rebound for the first shorthanded goal of his NHL career.