SUNRISE, Fla. — The New York Rangers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Florida Panthers with a 2-1 loss in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.
New York also lost in six games in the conference final in 2022. It hasn’t reached the Stanley Cup Final since 2014 and has not won the Cup since 1994.
The Rangers (55-23-4) finished first in the Metropolitan Division and won the Presidents’ Trophy with an NHL-best 114 points in the regular season. They set team records for wins and points in a season.
New York swept the Washington Capitals in the first round and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the second round before losing to Florida in the conference final.
The skinny
Potential unrestricted free agents: Alex Wennberg, F; Jack Roslovic, F; Blake Wheeler, F; Erik Gustafsson, D; Chad Ruhwedel, D
Potential restricted free agents: Kaapo Kakko, F; Ryan Lindgren, D; Braden Schneider; D
Potential 2024 Draft picks: 4
Here are five reasons the Rangers were eliminated:
1. Relied too much on Shesterkin
Igor Shesterkin was the Rangers’ best player. He was arguably the best player in the series for either team. Usually when that happens, that goalie’s team has a great chance to win and advance. But the Rangers were unable. Shesterkin was, in fact, the reason they weren’t eliminated sooner than Game 6. New York was outshot 34-24 in Game 6 and 202-151 in the series. The Panthers had a 468-372 advantage in shot attempts in the series. The Rangers did not have the puck enough for long stretches to advance. When they did, they didn’t do enough with it. They couldn’t score enough, mustering 12 goals in six games. And when Florida had the puck, Shesterkin had to be brilliant. Had he not been, it easily could have been over in five games, if not four.
2. Power play went cold
The Rangers’ success on the power play started to tail off in the second round, when they went 1-for-10 in Games 3-6. They couldn’t get it going against the Panthers either; New York was 1-for-15 on the power play in the conference final and 2-for-25 in its last 10 games of the playoffs after clicking at 40.0 percent through its first six games, all wins. The Rangers had one opportunity with the man-advantage in Game 6 and managed one non-descript shot on goal and two shot attempts. Not surprisingly, their goals per game in the playoffs dropped from 3.83 in their first six games to 2.40 in their last 10, including 2.00 in the conference final.