Rangers ax Renney ... now, why hasn't Sather joined him?

From ESPN.com ... one down, one to go.

The New York Rangers have fired Tom Renney after five seasons at the helm of the suddenly struggling team.

The New York Rangers hired Tom Renney during the 2003-04 season.

The Rangers had dropped to 31-23-7 after a stretch in which they lost 10 of their past 12 games, slipping to sixth place in the East after starting the season winning 10 of 13.

Renney was 164-121-42 with the Rangers.

The top eight teams of each conference make the Stanley Cup playoffs.

The team had not announced Renney's replacemen.

The Rangers also fired assistant coach Perry Pearn. Assistant Mike Pelino and goalie coach Benoit Allaire remain with the team.

The Rangers lost 3-2 in overtime to the Toronto Maple Leafs in New York on Sunday.

"We played hard," Renney said Sunday night. "We outshot this team significantly, we made a couple of mistakes that are in our game right now that we're going to continue to try to rectify.

"We are going to keep playing hard and we're going to stay the course and go after wins."

The Rangers conclude a four-game season series with the Maple Leafs on Wednesday night in Toronto.

Last week, division rival Pittsburgh fired coach Michel Therrien.