Despite the Rangers being in the thick of the Eastern Conference wild-card race, some are calling for head coach Peter Laviolette’s job — including Boomer Esiason.
The Rangers sit a point behind the Canadiens for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, though they have had their struggles, losing their last two games.
That includes a brutal 2-1 loss to the Flames on Tuesday night.
The radio host has now apparently seen enough.
“You would think that since the Rangers had a day off that they’d be a little bit more rested,” Esiason said on WFAN on Wednesday morning. “They were so disconnected, so disinterested … [Laviolette] has gotta go.”
In Tuesday’s lackluster loss, the Rangers had just 13 shots to Calgary’s 35 and looked flat throughout most of the game.
The low-energy feel seemed to bother the ex-Jets quarterback.
“You could tell that the players just, either they don’t give a damn, or something is amiss within the body of the team,” Esiason added. “[Something] has been amiss since they lost last year to the Panthers in the playoffs.”
Laviolette said the Rangers just got outplayed following the loss.
“It was not there, there was nothing there,” he said. “They were faster than us, they got to the ice quicker than us, they were more ready. That’s the way the game played out.”
Laviolette is in his second season with the Rangers after leading them to the conference final a year ago when they fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Panthers.
Laviolette was brought aboard in 2023 after the Gerard Gallant-led Blueshirts were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the rival Devils.
Gallant coached just two seasons and, like Laviolette, reached a conference finals in his first.
Laviolette and the Rangers now have 13 games left to figure things out.
