Despite winning the Presidents' Trophy during the regular season with the best record in the NHL, the New York Rangers fell short of their Stanley Cup aspirations on Saturday night, losing in six games in the conference finals to the Florida Panthers.
The Cats will head to their second straight Cup while the Rangers head home after one hell of a season. Following the loss, several players spoke out on the disappointment of getting eliminated in a series where they were truly in every game.
Via ESPN:
“We knew it wasn't going to be easy,” Rangers center Mika Zibanejad said. “I thought we tried to throw everything we had. It just wasn't enough today.”
“We were right there,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “We just came up short.”
“I would say that we’re a good team that gave everything,” said Artemi Panarin. “These games were so tight.”
Panarin is spot on. Every single game was decided by a mere one goal except for the series opener where Florida won 3-0. This matchup could've very well gone the other way, but the margin of error was so small.
Despite bowing out in the East Finals, Rangers head Peter Laviolette is proud of his team for leaving it all out on the ice:
“Listen, our guys fought this year,” Rangers coach Peter Laviolette said. “They bought in right from the start. It's disappointing; when you start something like this you don't do it to get three wins in the playoffs or five wins in the playoffs. You do it to go the whole way.”
Too little too late for Rangers
Game 6 was a battle. Late in the third, New York trailed 2-0 and couldn't muster up any offense against Cats netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. But with 2:44 left, Artemi Panarin cut the lead in the half with a beautiful goal, giving the Rangers hope after Igor Shesterkin went to the bench to give NY an extra man. Florida ultimately killed the remaining time on the clock though, sending the East's best squad home.
It's now been 31 years since the Rangers last made the Stanley Cup, which is not a drought that New York sports fans will be proud of. That being said, this organization should hold their heads high because they did have a great season.
New York was 55-23-4 and swept the Washington Capitals in round one before ousting the Carolina Panthers in the conference semifinals. They just came up against a hungry Panthers team who had more experience and also didn't lack motivation after losing in the Stanley Cup in 2023.
In the playoffs, there was production from a lot of different forwards like Panarin, Zibanejad, and Vincent Trocheck, among others. However, the blue line struggled immensely to contribute offensively. Trouba and K'Andre Miller were the only defensemen to score in the postseason and both goals were on the man advantage. The lack of help from the defensive unit didn't help their case, especially against the Panthers.
Now, it's time to relax and prepare for the 2024-25 season, where the Rangers will be hoping to conquer their Stanley Cup demons and finally deliver.
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