Coach John Tortorella summed it up best:

"We're a .500 hockey club and we're not playing to that," he said following the Rangers 4-2 loss to the Leafs in their home opener at Madison Square Garden Thursday night.

The Rangers, who remain in fourth place in the Atlantic division after dropping the first of a six-game homestand, displayed how mercurial they can be with a dominant first period and the "lethargic" 40 minutes that followed.

"Physically we're lethargic and mentally we're lethargic," Tortorella said.

To make up ground in the standings, the Rangers will have to find a way to replicate that first period in the future. The team led 1-0 after a strong twenty minutes in which they sustained pressure in the offensive zone and pelted Leafs goaltender Jonas Gustavsson with 16 shots.

"We had a good start. probably the best period of hockey all year," center Brad Richards said after his debut at MSG. "We wanted to build on it, but obviously we didn't."

In part because of an injury-plagued defense, the Rangers had difficulty creating offense over the first seven games and spent too much time pinned in their own end.

If Thursday's first period is any indication, the Rangers are dangerous when firing on all cylinders. For a team struggling for offense -- only 16 goals in the first 8 games -- that has to serve as a good template going forward.

The Rangers play the next five games at home, including Saturday's matinee against the Senators.

"We'll look at that...and try to find some good stuff," Tortorella said. "You have to find some good stuff."

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Goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, the team's saving grace in earning eight points thus far, admitted he was not at his best Thursday. Lundqvist gave up four goals on 36 shots and blamed himself for a mental lapse after the second goal.

"Personally, I lost some concentration after the second goal and I just have to be better," Lundqvist said.

"It happens sometimes," Lundqvist said. "Your thoughts, some are where they shouldn't be and you think too much about the result and wanting to win and you lose focus on what you have to do."

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Tortorella did not dispute the two goals that were waived off in the first period because of interference from captain Ryan Callahan on goaltender Jonas Gustavsson.

"They were the right calls," Tortorella said

Tortorella did not seem pleased with the unsportsmanlike conduct call against Brandon Dubinsky late in the third, however.

"I guess he sprayed snow on the goalie," Tortorella said. "That's the first time I ever heard of that one."