Rangers can’t match Panthers’ tenacity as Stanley Cup drought continues

Larry Brooks

NHL

By Larry Brooks

SUNRISE, Fla. — It’s become an annual rite of passage, much like daylight saving time. But instead of moving the clock forward an hour each spring, the Rangers are adding another year to their Stanley Cup drought.

It will be 31 years since the last climb out of the Canyon of Heroes for the Rangers, who were a very good team this year and a very good team through the first two rounds of the playoffs, but who couldn’t hold on against to a larger and stronger opponent. , more physical team in the conference final.

There is no shame in that. This wasn’t last year’s no-show loss to the Devils. The Rangers left everything they had on the ice in this six-game series in which they were brutalized, beaten and softened in the first three games by a Panthers team that grew bigger by winning the last three games of this conference final.

Indeed, the Rangers left everything they had on the ice for the duration of the season in which they finished with the best record in the league and advanced to the conference finals for the second time in three years.

They just weren’t good enough, much in the same way they weren’t in their six-game elimination against Tampa Bay two years ago, although that unexpected run had a different feel.

It was 2-1 for the Panthers in Game 6 on Saturday to send Florida to the Cup final for the second straight year after their five-game loss to Vegas last June. The Rangers weren’t forced to spend as much time in their zone as in the previous three games – the ice began to tilt significantly during the Blueshirts’ Game 3 overtime victory – but they didn’t was able to generate significant scoring chances against Sergei Bobrovsky.

Indeed, the Blueshirts have scored five goals in the last three games – one on the power play, one on the penalty kill, one at five-on-five and two at six-on-five with the extra attacker that included Artemi’s final goal Panarin at 18:20 of the third period to bring his team within one.

“I would say we’re a good team that gave everything,” said Panarin, who tore Bobrovsky’s shoulder late for his first goal of the series and fifth of the tournament. “Those games were so close.”

Panarin made reference to the fact that maybe the Rangers should have played like they did in the final five minutes when they tried to invade the zone. But Florida broke up play after play through the neutral zone on the rare occasions when the Rangers were able to get out of their own end with consistency.

The Rangers have been buying all year. They were the best-coached team on Broadway in decades. They asked to be coached after last spring’s debacle and they responded to new head coach Peter Laviolette and his staff from start to finish. They were one of the four best teams in the NHL in a 32-team league.

It’s not everything, but it’s not nothing either.

“Our guys fought this year, they bought in from the start,” Laviolette said. “They fought, we got to this point and it’s disappointing when you start something like this, you don’t do it to get three playoff wins or five playoff wins, you do it to go until the end so there is a disappointment setting in, that’s for sure.

“As far as our intentions that we had throughout the year, it was all about avoiding what we’re feeling right now. No one expected to be on this side.

Rangers are built to certain specifications. The Rangers rely on their numerical advantage. The Panthers put it on a spike, killing 14 of New York’s 15 advantages. The first clean sheet unit was overwhelmed most of the time. It wasn’t just that series either, as the Blueshirts went 2 for 25 over the final 10 games of the tournament. Laviolette would not mix staff.

Chris Kreider struggled to form words after his playoff game record fell to 20-10 career. The “10” represents the 10 playoff seasons that #20 was a Ranger. He recovered to give an analysis of the series, but there is a disappointment in 2012 at 21, there is a disappointment in 2017 at 26, and now there is a disappointment at 33.

Kreider had little impact on the series, only getting this short-handed goal in Game 5. Mika Zibanejad had little impact on the series, failing to score a goal. Panarin scored the only goal. Adam Fox didn’t score in the playoffs. K’Andre Miller had a rough series. Jacob Trouba too.

Miller and Trouba, by the way, were the only Rangers defensemen to score a goal in the playoffs and both were shorthanded. It’s hard to believe.

The Rangers couldn’t get inside, just like the Rangers couldn’t get inside against the Lightning in 2022. Maybe someone can sense a trend. Maybe someone will recognize that size still matters as much as ever when it comes to the playoffs.

When push came to shove, the Rangers were kicked out of the playoffs and that should never happen again.

The guys didn’t succeed. The team was unsuccessful. The wait becomes 31 years. Weight also becomes 31.

The Rangers have made themselves, their fans and the city proud this season. They left everything on ice. They just weren’t good enough, or big enough.

Wait until… a year.