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He Forest ranger‘The promising season, filled with Stanley Cup hopes, came to a disappointing end Saturday night when they lost to the Florida Panthers, 2-1, in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Sunrise, Florida.
The Panthers won the best-of-seven series, four games to two, to advance to the Stanley Cup Final for the second consecutive season and the third time in franchise history. Sam Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko scored goals for the Panthers, who await the winner of the series between Edmonton and Dallas.
The Blueshirts, meanwhile, are heading into an offseason of what could have been and what would have happened after winning the Presidents Trophy and a team-record 55 games. But they did not reach their first Cup final since 2014 and their first Cup since 1994.
Here are the main conclusions…
– The Rangers held on all season and set an NHL record with 34 comeback wins between the regular season and playoffs combined. But they couldn’t add another surge when they needed it most after falling behind in the first period. Artemi Panarin scored his first goal of the series with 1:40 left in the third period and Igor Shesterkin off the net for an extra attacker to bring the Rangers within 2-1.
-Several of the Rangers’ biggest offensive stars struggled during the series and that will certainly be a story leading into next season. Mika Zibanejad and adam fox He did not score a goal in the six games and Panarin and Chris Kreider had one each. Alexis Lafreniere led the Rangers with four goals and Barclay Goodrow Had three.
-The Rangers had early momentum in the first period, but ended up trailing 1-0, as the Panthers took control of the game and took advantage of a turnover in the neutral zone to score with 49.3 seconds left in the game. the term. Sam Bennett scored on a slap shot that beat Shesterkin on the glove side after a nice give-and-take sequence with Evan Rodrigues. Bennett brought the puck into the zone and Rodrigues was free after Jacob Trouba He tried to control it and failed. The Rangers reviewed replays to see if Florida was offside on the play, but decided not to challenge.
-In the second period, both teams had stretches where they carried the game and the period ended with Florida outscoring the Rangers, 11-9. Shesterkin stopped Matthew Tkachuk on a getaway during the period, perhaps aided by a cut by K’Andre Miller that was not called. Tkachuk probably wanted a call. The Rangers had a fortuitous opportunity late in the period when the puck bounced across the Panthers’ box after a carom off the back wall. They almost scored a goal because the puck bounced very close to Bobrovsky’s skate. But the Rangers couldn’t get it into the net either, and he bounced harmlessly away.
-The Panthers took a 2-0 lead with 10:52 left in the third when a former Ranger scored a crucial goal. Anton Lundell sent a cross-ball pass under the ice for Vladimir Tarasenko, who was posted to Shesterkin’s left. The puck had been thrown into the Ranger zone and Lundell and Miller hunted it down and Lundell won to start the play that led to a goal.
-The Rangers power play was a strength during the regular season, but the PP struggled against the Panthers. He entered Game 6 having gone 1-for-14 on the power play during the series and then went 0-for-1 in Game 6.
-The Rangers reworked some lines at the beginning of the game, moving Alex Wenberg to the first line and putting him on the wing with Chris Kreider and center Mika Zibanejad. Filip Chytilwho had been a winger on that line, was transferred to the third line center and Jack Roslovic He was moved to the fourth line. Matt Rempethe hard-hitting cult hero, was a scratch, replaced in the lineup by Jonny Brodzinski.
MVP: Sergei Bobrovsky
The Florida goalkeeper saved 22 of 23 shots in a crucial game.
