Rangers Set Sights on First Title in 47 Years

General Manager Phil Esposito said Tuesday that the New York Rangers need to do three things in their last 25 games to win their first division title in 47 years: play more consistently; improve their power play, and eliminate mental mistakes. It doesn’t take a genius to reach those conclusions.

A 1-4-1 stretch before the All-Star break, in which the Rangers were erratic from one period to the next, dropped them into a second-place tie with Washington, a point behind Pittsburgh in the Patrick Division.

The Rangers are 15-6-4 in divisional games and 13-13-4 outside the division. They have 10 games left against divisional opponents. “We seem to play better against them,” Esposito said. “If I knew that beforehand, I would have made the schedule different.”

Inconsistency remains the operative word. Last Wednesday, the Rangers lost to the Capitals in overtime, 4-3, at Madison Square Garden after rallying from a 3-1 deficit; they lost a 5-2 lead and the game, 7-5, Saturday in Montreal, and Sunday at the Garden they lost to the Minnesota North Stars after rallying from a 3-1 deficit and tying the score. “We’ve got to get our minds focused,” Esposito said. “Some guys’ minds are elsewhere. I refuse to keep allowing mental errors.”

Coach Michel Bergeron said that he felt fatigue was a factor and that the players would benefit from having two days off. “I need Ulfie (Dahlen) back. I need (Chris) Nilan back,” he said, referring to the injured forwards. “I need the leaders up in the room and up on the ice.”

Bergeron also needs the power play to function better. The Rangers have the league’s lowest home power-play conversion rate (15.9 percent).

Esposito wants the power play producing at “21 to 23 percent, or we’re going to be in deep trouble in the playoffs.” In the 5-3 loss to the North Stars Sunday, Bergeron made one change, using checker Lucien DeBlois more than Kelly Kisio and Carey Wilson. “He’ll pay the price in front of the net,” Bergeron said.

Last season, Marcel Dionne, who is expected to play his first minor-league game Wednesday night in Denver, scored 22 of his 31 goals on the power play. The Rangers miss that kind of production.

Dionne is expected to be recalled from the International Hockey League Feb. 20, when his conditioning period expires. Esposito said he would not waive Dionne “unless he asks me to. ... There are no guarantees he’s going to play when he comes back. Michel makes the decisions on who plays.”

Dionne said Monday he did not think Bergeron would use him again. “He shouldn’t be saying that,” Esposito said. “You can’t tell a guy he’s done. It’s up to the guy. I’m not going to tell Marcel he’s finished.”

Esposito said he did not expect to make a trade for another defenseman this week, despite having only six because of Normand Rochefort’s season-ending knee injury. He expects his next recall from Denver to be 21-year-old defenseman Jeff Bloemberg, a fifth-round 1986 draft pick, “because he’s playing the best down there right now.”