On Thursday night, the New York Rangers (26-12-2) lost to the St. Louis Blues (21-18-1)  5-2, with star No. 1 center Mika Zibanejad leaving the ice during warm-ups due to illness.

Zibnanejad, who has 39 points in 39 games (14 goals, 25 assists), did not attend the team’s practice on Wednesday in Tarrytown.

The Rangers are currently 1-3-1 to start the month of January off and are on their first three-game losing streak of the season.

They lost to two of the best teams in the NHL, the Carolina Hurricanes and Vancouver Canucks, and two mediocre teams, the Montreal Canadiens and Blues.

Defense off of the rush and neutral zone forechecking was and still is an issue. Timely saves or timely plays are also a factor leading to these losses.

Already shorthanded, the Rangers can’t afford to lose another forward. That is not within anyone’s control, but the loss in St. Louis exposed why the already thin roster could be in trouble if another man goes down.

But one thing is certain. The Rangers may have maxed out their call-up services. The club is simply not fielding the same roster that achieved a successful first quarter of the season.

“I think it’s always good for a team to face some adversity,” head coach Peter Laviolette told reporters following Thursday night’s loss. “So, Mika going out and different things that happen [and things] not going your way is not a bad thing for teams to have to go through and to fight to get things back on track.”

No player can replace the value No. 93 brings to the team. To lose a player like Zibanejad would be the last jenga piece in a teetering tower.

You can get by without Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil, but adding more ‘and’ to that sentence makes you question what the lineup looks like with more key players out

Zibanejad is one of the most unique players in the NHL. There are stretches in the season where he’s doing the little things right on a team loaded with stars and young talent shining on Broadway.

“He’s been playing great all year. We know what Mika is capable of, what he brings to our team’s game every night, whether or not he’s scoring,” Vincent Trocheck told The Hockey News. “I know a lot of people judge [his] play off of goals and points, but even if he stays off the score sheet, he’s extremely important to his team, and he contributes every night.”

There are also stretches where the spotlight is on Chris Kreider, Shesterkin, Artemi Panarin, Alexis Lafreniere, and Adam Fox.

The 30-year-old’s rare quality is that, in some stretches of play, he somehow transcends all of the awards, accolades, and star power of his teammates and becomes the team’s unanimous MVP in the blink of an eye.

When he’s hot, he is the best-scoring center in the NHL.

When he’s not in the lineup, the Rangers don’t have a player that can ultimately fill the hole that he leaves behind.

The Rangers begin their second half of the 2023-24 season with a home and home against the Washington Capitals on Saturday afternoon in D.C. before a Sunday afternoon showdown at Madison Square Garden.