3 Rangers takeaways as playoff hopes officially buried under avalanche of mistakes in 7-3 loss to rival
The painful crawl to the finish line finally ended for the New York Rangers on Saturday afternoon in Game 80 of a simply dreadful and disappointing season. A 7-3 Rangers loss in Raleigh to their rival Carolina Hurricanes brough the curtain down on this terrible act.
Once the Rangers (37-36-7) had that atrocious 8-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at home on Wednesday, they needed to be perfect the rest of the way to even have a chance at earning a playoff berth for the fourth consecutive season. Perfect is not something the Rangers do, however.
So, after an uplifting 9-2 trashing over a completely inept Islanders squad Thursday, it was back to business for the Rangers against the Hurricanes two days later. And Rangers business was just not good enough this season, much less in what turned out to be their final must-win game.
They’re the fourth team in NHL history to win the Presidents’ Trophy one season and fail to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs the next. The Rangers are 33 points off their League-leading total from a year ago with two games left to play.
That sounds extremely difficult to do, especially considering the core of the team that reached the Eastern Conference Final two of the past three seasons was pretty much intact — and healthy — again this season. Though maybe bringing back the core for another kick at it was the start of their downfall.
There’s much to unpack here, which will be done in the coming, days, weeks and months.
But for now, even with two games left to play, it’s officially all over for the Rangers.
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3 Rangers takeaways from 7-3 loss to Hurricanes
Here are three takeaways from the loss that officially eliminated the Rangers from playoff contention.
1. More of the same
The Rangers lost to the Hurricanes on Saturday for many of the same reasons they’ve lost 36 games already this season and didn’t qualify for the playoffs. Their defensive zone coverage was abysmal. They turned the puck over in mind-numbing fashion. They consistently lost 1-on-1 battles. They’re slow and struggle to keep up with fast-skating teams.
This one was probably over 17:46 into the first period, when Seth Jarvis scored to make it 2-0 Carolina. That’s because the Rangers are the only team in the League not to win a single game when trailing by multiple goals this season. That Carolina was up 4-0 at 12:59 of the second period only added to the inevitability of this result.
In a must-win game against a quality opponent, the Rangers needed to be much better. They weren’t, which shouldn’t be a surprise if you’ve watched them all season.
“That’s what’s brutal about tonight, we ended up working our way back into a game, but we just gave up too much,” coach Peter Laviolette said postgame.
2. Are you kidding me?
That’s not to say the Rangers quit on this one. We’ve seen enough no-shows from this group this season to know when their compete level is wanting. This was not one of those games. They paid for a myriad of mistakes made against a better team. Plain and simple.
But if not for a couple crazy bounces, who knows, they might have actually pulled this one out. Down 3-0 more than halfway through the game, Artemi Panarin had the puck on his stick after a slick feed from Alexis Lafreniere. Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov was nowhere in the picture. And even with a defenseman close by, Panarin had a gaping net to shoot at. Breadman, with 37 goals this season, hit the post. Of course, the Hurricanes scored seconds later when no one thought it was a good idea to pick up Mark Jankowski in the slot. So, it became 4-0, not 3-1.
Then, down 5-3 and with some momentum with under seven minutes to play, the Rangers got a shot to the net and J.T. Miller was right there for the rebound try. He chipped the puck off Kochetkov’s arm and the puck deflected up and off the crossbar, before landing inches from the goal line, where Carolina defensemen Jalen Chatfield swept it away.
Last season, the Rangers score on one or both of those opportunities. Not this season.
3. ‘Church-like’ silence
Leah Hextall, working between the benches for ABC, had a disturbing observation about the Rangers during this must-win game.
“It’s very quiet down here on the Rangers bench, almost church-like — Pete Laviolette, I haven’t seen him say more than, probably, two words,” she reported.
Take that for what it’s worth and add it to the rest of the dysfunction with the Rangers this season.
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