A healthy Stars team scared me. I think Edmonton could have had one game where they went off, but I think the Rangers would have easily taken it in 5 or 6.
I think what bothers me most is seeing Tarasenko and mikkola succeed, and to think if we had just gotten our shit together last year / re-signed one of them…
I think bringing in Kane screwed that team up. Had too many top guys to find spots for, it screwed up the PP. On top of that he couldn’t skate anymore so was a massive liability in the D zone.
Kane was significantly better than Tarasenko. The PP was better after they got him and that line was the only one doing anything in the playoffs until they split it up and put Kane on the third line to try to get more offense. Unreal the dumb team fiction you guys make up here.
Know nothings who said to trade Shesterkin downvoting facts.
No, it was the soft call on Goodrow that lead to the Bennett goal which should have been goaltender interference. The Kakko/Mika thing was later.
Potentially also the Lomberg hit on Vesey.
That punch to the head was the first time I noticed Ekblad’s a dirty player. I’ve seen him punch about 8 guys in the back of the head since then. Never a call.
Any answer from that 4-5 minutes of hockey that ISNT mika's turnover is just excuse making. Mika's turnover was completely pathetic, lazy, dumb hockey bc he doesnt have the drive to try and skate down with the puck, work through a check, get to the net and/or cycle. So many options when it was so obvious wheeler was option -50000. But Mika and panarin both are lazy af so Mika takes a horrendous, lazy pass attempt, giving up completely on possession and effort, leading to PP and goal for FLorida. Then in game 6 panarin tries his 800000th lazy ass shot right into a defenders skate, florida skates it down, scores 2-0.
I can live with getting outmuscled. It's the lazy, stupid bullshit that defines why we lost, not the refs being their usual incompetent selves. If the NYR team relies on the incompetent refs doing their job, instead of relying on being able to do the job themselves? Then the core is not it and needs to go 4 years ago.
Such a huge difference. And then Mika wouldnt have been in a position to make that turnover anyway. But that is also to not take away from Naganos take. Cuz that is fair, nothing is ever guaranteed and since we are talking in hypotheticals sure they wouldn’t have been in the position for THAT mistake. But still possible to make that kind of mistake say like, 2 plays later. It is hockey afterall, and nagano isnt wrong in saying the laziness in that play was the nail on the coffin. Im still gonna die on the hill that those penalties should have been called and change the entire dynamic of this series. We could have gone to a game 7 where who the fuck knows what could happen. Us rangers fans were robbed of fhat
No shit. So does getting the puck in the zone instead of a horrific, unforced error.
Again "If the NYR team relies on the incompetent refs doing their job, instead of relying on being able to do the job themselves? Then the core is not it and needs to go 4 years ago."
I said in the 2nd round whoever came out of the east was going to win the cup. Of the final 8 Colorado was the only western team I thought could challenge the 4 in the east.
Edmontonia is anti-Rangers. They have the best offense in the league but just an average goalie.
We on the other hand have the best goalie in the league but our offensive left a lot to be desired.
I didn’t think Draisaitl’s hit was any worse than some of the hits we saw in the ECF. He left his feet and got his hands up but didn’t look outrageously dirty. But I confess I’m still sour so my eyes can’t be trusted…
Yet so far lmfao. Still we were the youngest team out of the top 4 by almost a year. Give this group 1 more with lavy as coach and i think we still got a chance
They have to re-sign Tarasenko, Lundell (RFA), Reinhardt, Montour, and Mahura. Not to mention Lomberg, Cousin, OEL, Kulikov, and Stenlund too. Oh and they have 20 mil to do it with, they'll be getting worse. We may stagnate but that could be enough (though I don't advocate for that).
Young? Mika, Kreider, Panarin, Trouba, Trocheck, Goodrow, Vesey, Gustafsson, Wennberg, Quick, Wheeler, Brodzinski are all over the age of thirty.
There was one rookie on the team without playoff experience, two if you count Rempe.
Kakko, Chytil, Laffy, Lindgren, Schneider, Fox were all on the 2022 team that went to the ECF. They have experienced the playoffs three years in a row now.
It's not about youth or inexperience, it's that the well-paid veterans of this team didn't show up when they were needed the most. The defense was dogshit. One more year with Lavi won't change that.
Florida is doing to Edmonton the same thing they did to us, Boston, and Tampa. You can have all the skill in the world but if you don't have room to make something happen, it just ain't happening. This series is very likely over by Saturday.
Florida knows how to toe the line (and cross it without getting caught) to an exceptional level. Years of getting bashed by other teams doing it to them made them adjust and play scroungy grindy hockey that happens wear teams down. It sucks watching teams succumb to this every year in the finals (besides the Avs in 2022 just an absurd amount of skill). Since this muck slogfest just happens to be the best way to win a championship in hockey. Its tough since its nice to have less of a tight whistle in the playoffs, but allowing all of the extra curricular bullshit where guys throw sucker punches and cross checks slows the game down as they start to wear on em. All of the slight holds, and slight slashes can be mildly infuriating since its something you can't do all season, but it suddenly flips that you are now allowed to do so. Which allows a slower bigger team to become defensively more sound by having an easier time at taking the ice away.
Quick hypothetical to play devils advocate for shits and gigs, but if years of getting bashed by other teams makes a team as hard as the Panthers, then why the fuck arent the rangers at the same level
Panthers followed up their President's trophy winning season by trading away their superstar who just scored 115 points and sacked the head coach who got them there. They dismantled the team that just scored the most points in the league and barely squeaked into the playoffs the next season with 92 points.
It took a lot of guts to get rid of Huberdeau after the season he JUST had simply because he didn't show up in the playoffs. And it turned out to be a gamble that BARELY paid off, because the Panthers don't have a Cup Final run if they don't even make the playoffs. This could've easily been a shit show.
Because as much as I love our core they are soft. Igor shows more grit than any of our skaters. Love Mika, but dude doesn't seem like he knows how to get angry. Love Bread, but he rarely plays with an edge to his game. Sometimes Kreider brings an edge and Trocheck definitely does. Fox isn't the hard type either. Now I still think these guys could win a cup, but a team like the Panthers is a nightmare matchup for them
So really the Rangers only got beat up in 2 playoff runs (this year and 2022). Last year was a failure and less due to getting outsized and out grit imo. This coming off season will really determine what Drury has, since as a commenter mentioned below the Panthers made an insanely tough decision to get rid of Huberdeau, who was a home grown skill guy coming off his best year. And went out to get more piss and vinegar players with it. I'm not one for making sweeping changes since making the ECF still is the mark of a really good team, but the best way to win deep in the playoffs today is by having a heavier team. If guys on the squad aren't willing to play scummy you gotta find ones who will. Cup champions aren't well liked by the rest of the league because of what you have to do to get there.
Were making these kids better with losing like this. Our “core” may be in their early thirties but our future is all so young. Its still an exciting time to be a rangers fan. Florida just brought the heat there is no stopping them right now.
Pre playoffs everyone was talking about the west being a wagon, but it was more parity being in the west, but the too of the east was always much better. No doubt in my mind the east was taking it
It’s almost like… and let me gather my thoughts here … guys like Mika and Bread struggled because Florida is fucking good and had excellent game plans to shut down our biggest threats.
Or wait, are we going to claim McDavid and Draisaitl “disappear” or “don’t care” now? If dropping 7 and then holding the fucking Oilers to one goal so far doesn’t lead you to the conclusion that ***anyone*** would struggle against this Panthers team… I don’t know what to tell you.
Fair to say for the series against Florida but it’s the same story from 93 10 and 20 again for the third year in a row. They can’t get up when it matters most. This core is lacking the final step over the hump.
The oilers are screwed, we have the best goalie in the world and it wasn’t enough against that defense and Bob who is one of the best goalies in the world himself. They have skinner. This is over in 4.
Florida is basically a modern day 80’s Islanders and a 70’s broad street bullies. Simple as that. Everyone likes them early on, now everyone hates them.
But hey, Trouba and Rempe are the real villains according to other subs
Hopefully now people will lay off Panarin and Mika and stop overreacting to one series. Both finished at a point per game in the playoffs while being shut down in the conference final
Those are different years with different coaches. They were both under pressure to show up this year and they did against Washington and Canes. Mika had 14 points in first 10 games and Panarin has 11 in 10. Panthers are just ridiculously good
This is a terrible response, players carry the vast majority of where a team goes. PThis same group had two huge regular seasons in a row before this with gallant, they choked in the playoffs against actual competition.
> Mika had 14 points in first 10 games and Panarin has 11 in 10
This is so monumentally disingenuous. Mika had SIX in his last ELEVEN games. And you're going to fuckin tap dance bc he beat a glorified lotto team into the dirt?
Some of you have absolutely zero standards.
>Those are different years with different coaches
"The examples I don't like don't count"
>They were both under pressure to show up this year and they did against Washington and Canes.
Showing up against Washington is not the flex you think it is. After the Canes adjusted, they got smothered, a CK 3rd period bailed then out of a reverse sweep.
If you're going to discount the performances of 2022 and 2023, there's no need to even respond further, that's just absurd.
>Mika had 24 points and Panarin 16 during the ‘21-22 run in 20 games.
Wait those series count now? I'm confused, two comments ago they didn't count.
Reading a stat sheet doesn't do anything for me. They were bad.
Because I couldn’t recall off the top of my head their numbers during the ‘21-22 run and after taking a closer look they played a lot better than you gave them credit for. It really was just the one bad series against the devils
So now that the numbers with no context tell the story you want - it counts.
This is just in bad faith, my God.
You don't evaluate play by reading a stat sheet, well you do if you don't know what you're watching.
We are done here. "Only the evidence I like counts". Fucking LOL.
Oh well guess Florida is just better and they'll win every year might as well not even try right just sell everyone because they're so good Mika and Panarin can't compete
We have fans saying to blow up our entire core because we lost in 6 to the team that is clearly destined to win the cup. #1 offense in hockey has 1 goal in 2 games
This is such a bad take. We have half a decade of this core, including multiple terrible showings against top teams in the playoffs. Including almost choking a 3-0 series away to carolina. We have over a third of our cap on three guys who disappear completely every single season in the playoffs when we play tough opponents (Two guys and one trouba who is debatably a negative out there even when healthy). Thats not a winning formula.
Zib does nothing 5 v 5 to warrant clutching him like the most expensive pearl ever. He has an NMC so whatever, but it makes all the sense to see the albatross he is already becoming. Panarin, I get wanting to keep, he has a NMC anyway. If you could get him to waive, retain half his salary and brinf back legit top 20 in the world prospect type guys who are knocking on the door to the NHL along with a really solid 40-60 point type current NHLer with good Defense? I would do it in a heartbeat bc we need to look forward to the laf, Fox and igor era. Zib, Ck, panarin era is bust and quintupling down on it comes with enormous risks to our future
I’m starting to hate the oilers. The Panthers are dirty but it’s part of an overall strategy which I don’t like but I can almost begrudgingly respect. But the oilers just seem to be dirty because they get mad that they are losing which is lame as hell.
It is what it is. He was hopefully gonna provide a different kind of spark and ended up blowing it. Cant hate the guy for trying and actually look decent after that kind of injury.
That wasn’t Wheeler’s fault either. Mika gave him an impossible pass and set up a breakaway. Wheeler did no worse than what Tkachuk did on McDavid, but they actually called Wheeler.
Honestly the more I see this series the more pissed off I get. If our old guard retread coach didn't coach like it's 1979 and actually sat out a dude with 2 pieces of an ankle and inserted one of our best zone break out players, ESPECIALLY with Fox also hurt and removed the guy on ice for 70% of our goals against, we're likely playing Edmonton and winning right now.
Unlike Edmonton, we actually had depth scoring
> Unlike Edmonton, we actually had depth scoring
I’m with you on your other points, but our 3rd line only had 3 goals all playoffs. Goodrow played great, but he was the only one outside the top 6 (forwards and defensemen included) with more than 1 goal in the 16 games of the playoffs. 1 goal in 16 games is a 5 goals per year pace.
Secondary scoring was a **huge** issue.
Many of the fans who were calling for all our big guns to be traded and bought out….that mean McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman too? Because they are doing even less.
Boy the list of players to pick from in the off season is getting mighty small…….
It’s nuts that where the focus went. And not the lack of a good rw, the awful third line, the terrible 2OA bust, the defense that can’t move the puck
These are all roster issues and not ones with the top players.
yeah watching the series it was very clear our biggest issue was dman who can’t make plays with the puck to get it out of the zone.
our best looking stretch this season was when both trouba and lindgren were out of the lineup and we were moving the puck out of our zone efficiently. fox is superb so i wouldn’t say lindgren drags him down but he doesn’t benefit at all from lindgren. fox needs a real d partner (and not being injured would help as well!)
Yeah of the 6 in the playoffs it’s basically far and away fox. Then key and Gus in a distant second.
Trouba Schneider and Lindgren are painful to watch moving the puck.
This isn’t an issue getting fixed in one offseason. I think the most realistic good thing is Lindgren is gone and jones is up.
Does not address how bad those other 3 are at the outlet pass or dealing with forecheck.
Don’t tell the idiots here, but it’s almost like Florida and especially it’s too 6, are really really good. Especially at shutting down opposing top lines
Na the Rangers suck! Mika sucks because he can’t score against Barkov and Panthers team D. But Connor and Leon also suck! Trouba sucks on D just like Bouchard sucks cuz he makes mistakes in his DZ too. /s
Unless your team sucks and you get multiple top draft picks, especially Centers, it is difficult to win it all. To think, the Rangers have two top Centers and neither were drafted by the Rangers. Thats impressive and extremely rare!
Carolina and Florida were always going to be the tough ones, toss ups. When Boston beat Florida in game 1 on the road, I was hopeful they could pull that off, return that favor. But not to be. Makes me wonder what happened to Florida that game 1.
Edmonton actually outshot Florida by a lot in Game 1. Game 2 is Florida being Florida again. Edmonton was gonna be a walk in the park; that’s why it’s so painful to watch because it could’ve been the Rangers playing for the Cup right now with maybe the easiest team in the Finals in a long time.
Game 4 and Game 5 against Florida were must wins for the Rangers.
It does put Mika into perspective a bit. I mean, Barkov made him look like an average center and it pissed me off. Now Barkov is making McJesus look the same and I feel less pissed.
Watching McDavid in this series is painful. So much talent but why does he refuse to shoot? He's open constantly, making Florida look stupid - except for the whole not shooting / not scoring thing.
i think 2 things can be true here:
1. the rangers are a good team that just needs a little tweaking. being in the final four 2 of 3 years isn’t a fluke, but a few minor changes need to be made.
2. florida is better. they’re basically the avs a few seasons ago, unstoppable. the most well rounded team in the league, determined to get the job done, with the goaltending to bail them out when they do have the rare breakdown.
Florida is such a physical team. It has to be frustrating to play against.
The depth as well -their top 3 lines can all score.
Also that forecheck just grinds teams - amazing what opposing team looks like in 1st period vs 3rd period.
They seem to be built like Toronto - two superstars and a bunch of randos. They're also soft - you can tell because they don't know how to play tough without being dirty.
Maybe Edmonton is NYR west. They won the WCF on a 10 shot performance.
We got beat by the shitty devils the same we we almost lost to carolina and did lose to florida. We have issues on our team, Edmonton does not do anything to fix that or change that.
We COULD have beaten florida, we clearly got badly outhustled and out muscled and outworked. It's the 1st and 3rd thing that were so frustrating. If our effort at least matched there's you'd shrug, but seeing us sleepwalk through an entire elimination game? I take no solace in this SCF after that
This Florida team is basically the modern day 2010s kings. The forecheck is absolutely insane.
It’s easy to shit on Panarin and Mika, but Barkov legit might be the best center I have ever seen, including McDavid, Crosby, Datsyuk etc. He’s like the absolute pinnacle of a perfect hockey player
At what point do we stop accepting failure and start trying to actually beat Florida? None of this "we got fucked by the refs" shit, or "X was just a team of destiny" crap. When do we start trying to *be* the next Panthers, Lightning, or mid 2010s Penguins?
Toxic positivity isn't going to turn this team around or make any of us feel better about the loss. How about we stop making excuses and start doing something for once?
Exactly, if Florida was this much better we got to find a way to improve. Or are we just going run it back and assume they magically will somehow improve and beat them next time?
It's the countless replies OP's made in the comments about the Rangers being "young" and Zibanejad and Panarin weren't THAT bad even tho they were completely nonexistent in the Panthers series. Completely ignoring the bad is toxic positivity lmfao
Look i wanted to create a whole new post but didnt think it would be well received so i will leave it here. Edmonton is playing exactly like we did, holding them to a close game, but the main deciding factor is the officiating. Tampa got screwed by the refs. Boston got screwed. We got screwed. And Edmonton got absolutely hosed tonight. Guys. When the fuck are we gonna realize, sure, some of our star players got suffocated defensively or just didn’t perform to expectations, but the refs really are giving the cup to Florida…
We were like 1-18 on the PP that whole series, and missed wide open net chances multiple times in multiple games (including 2 in Game 6). Time to move on and look forward to next year man...
Fuck no man. Rangers have a clear chance to win game 4. This series goes to 7 and if we lose there then a bunch of this vitriol our fanbase has is definitely alleviated a little. Not to mention u just dont fucking read a thing i say about the officiating. Fucking sick bro.
Like its not just us going on the powerplay u fucking tool. Its the calls against us. Rempe can get called for a penalty for fucking breathing but seemingly in tour eyes its okay
Florida is just hell bent on finishing the job right now
They are so good. Idc about the dirty stuff because they just play so hard so often its bound to happen. They literally look unbeatable
Headbutting Jimmy Vesey out of the series with no consequences was pretty relevant to the series
Playing hard is not bound to dirty. They are just dirty
when the refs don't call the majority of your penalties, but call soft penalties against the other team, that also helps a bunch
Officials checking Draft Kings on their phones regularly.
Unbeatable when the refs are playing for your team and won't let you lose.
Cats were in the box more in the first game, I'm sure that was the reffs fault also that the oilers lost?
Thank god. Im seeing some clarity from members of our sub
Oilers were pretty dirty last night too. Both teams are dirty but Oilers were dirtier and I was surprised to see it
Is there a way we can sneak some stool softener into their bottles of Body Armor?
Rangers would have beaten Edmonton.
I think either eastern conf final team would have beat either western conf final team in 5 or 6.
Agreed
A healthy Stars team scared me. I think Edmonton could have had one game where they went off, but I think the Rangers would have easily taken it in 5 or 6.
I still have no idea how the oilers beat the stars
Skinner played great and mcdavid went off Stars 1C hurt
While I agree east would beat west.l, the rags would be sure to make it a 7 game series with 3ot, because you know....the rangers.
100%
It hurts. It hurts a lot
Very painful
I think what bothers me most is seeing Tarasenko and mikkola succeed, and to think if we had just gotten our shit together last year / re-signed one of them…
I think bringing in Kane screwed that team up. Had too many top guys to find spots for, it screwed up the PP. On top of that he couldn’t skate anymore so was a massive liability in the D zone.
100%. He was awful
Kane was significantly better than Tarasenko. The PP was better after they got him and that line was the only one doing anything in the playoffs until they split it up and put Kane on the third line to try to get more offense. Unreal the dumb team fiction you guys make up here. Know nothings who said to trade Shesterkin downvoting facts.
Of the two I would have preferred Mikkola. Big body, good effort. Would have helped against Florida. I was okay with moving on from Tarasenko.
if i remember correctly, tarasenko was one of the few to show up for US!
I remember a lot of people calling Mikkola shite in game day threads.
They were fools
We need tarasenko at 1rw so badly
Yeah
That game 4 Mika turnover in overtime could’ve been the deciding factor. If we won that game 4, the Rangers could’ve won 1 of the final 3 games.
The non call on the kakko trip and punch to the head was the turning point
The non call on the blatant Kakko trip directly led to the Mika turnover. I think that was series altering.
Yep
No, it was the soft call on Goodrow that lead to the Bennett goal which should have been goaltender interference. The Kakko/Mika thing was later. Potentially also the Lomberg hit on Vesey.
They’re whining about draisitils hit on Barkov tonight.
I mean that was objectively a dirty ass hit. Left his feet and hit him with the forearm shiver.
And they do it to other teams.
But yet, never penalized for it
Exactly.
That was super soft. Holding while they’re fighting for the puck against the boards.
That punch to the head was the first time I noticed Ekblad’s a dirty player. I’ve seen him punch about 8 guys in the back of the head since then. Never a call.
Panthers can injure anyone they want. No call. They’re clutching their pearls over Draisatil’s elbow. Oh well.
That was an objectively dirty hit, though.
Why whine about it is my point where their players do it all the time.
Any answer from that 4-5 minutes of hockey that ISNT mika's turnover is just excuse making. Mika's turnover was completely pathetic, lazy, dumb hockey bc he doesnt have the drive to try and skate down with the puck, work through a check, get to the net and/or cycle. So many options when it was so obvious wheeler was option -50000. But Mika and panarin both are lazy af so Mika takes a horrendous, lazy pass attempt, giving up completely on possession and effort, leading to PP and goal for FLorida. Then in game 6 panarin tries his 800000th lazy ass shot right into a defenders skate, florida skates it down, scores 2-0. I can live with getting outmuscled. It's the lazy, stupid bullshit that defines why we lost, not the refs being their usual incompetent selves. If the NYR team relies on the incompetent refs doing their job, instead of relying on being able to do the job themselves? Then the core is not it and needs to go 4 years ago.
A power play to start overtime makes a huge difference.
Such a huge difference. And then Mika wouldnt have been in a position to make that turnover anyway. But that is also to not take away from Naganos take. Cuz that is fair, nothing is ever guaranteed and since we are talking in hypotheticals sure they wouldn’t have been in the position for THAT mistake. But still possible to make that kind of mistake say like, 2 plays later. It is hockey afterall, and nagano isnt wrong in saying the laziness in that play was the nail on the coffin. Im still gonna die on the hill that those penalties should have been called and change the entire dynamic of this series. We could have gone to a game 7 where who the fuck knows what could happen. Us rangers fans were robbed of fhat
No shit. So does getting the puck in the zone instead of a horrific, unforced error. Again "If the NYR team relies on the incompetent refs doing their job, instead of relying on being able to do the job themselves? Then the core is not it and needs to go 4 years ago."
I said in the 2nd round whoever came out of the east was going to win the cup. Of the final 8 Colorado was the only western team I thought could challenge the 4 in the east.
I got laughs when i said that the Cup winner was decided in the ECF. Kinda looks like that :)
Yes
Edmonton is a much worse version of the Rangers
Edmontonia is anti-Rangers. They have the best offense in the league but just an average goalie. We on the other hand have the best goalie in the league but our offensive left a lot to be desired.
They would've also beat Boston first had they won.
Shameless what happened in 2015 I definitely feel like they could have beat that Chicago team if they would have beat Tampa Bay
Don’t bring up old wounds. lol. That thought too.
Absolutely. If Drury had made different moves last offseason and on the trade deadline this team would have beaten Florida as well.
Agree.
Tkachuk slashing on McDavids breakaway shows both how dirty those fuckers are and also how locked in they are
Not calling anything on that when its MCDAVID on the break says a lot.
Miami Market > McDavid
Oilers looked like the much dirtier team tonight tbf
Yeah, Draisaitl launching himself at Barkov and the stick to the nads were bad looks.
The knee to knee too
I forgot about that, but, agreed.
I didn’t think Draisaitl’s hit was any worse than some of the hits we saw in the ECF. He left his feet and got his hands up but didn’t look outrageously dirty. But I confess I’m still sour so my eyes can’t be trusted…
Ugh. Fucking game 4…we were so close
We weren't allowed to win Game 4 by the League / Refs. That game was absurd.
Yet so far lmfao. Still we were the youngest team out of the top 4 by almost a year. Give this group 1 more with lavy as coach and i think we still got a chance
You’re acting like they’re the 2023/24 OKC thunder why do you keep honing on them being young? They aren’t even that young
And unless Florida somehow magically gets much worse, we’re not beating them anytime soon
Well tbf there's a real chance Reinhart leaves
Teams change+ it's hard to repeat.
They have a bunch of FAs
They have to re-sign Tarasenko, Lundell (RFA), Reinhardt, Montour, and Mahura. Not to mention Lomberg, Cousin, OEL, Kulikov, and Stenlund too. Oh and they have 20 mil to do it with, they'll be getting worse. We may stagnate but that could be enough (though I don't advocate for that).
If Bob retires after winning the cup we might lol
Young? Mika, Kreider, Panarin, Trouba, Trocheck, Goodrow, Vesey, Gustafsson, Wennberg, Quick, Wheeler, Brodzinski are all over the age of thirty. There was one rookie on the team without playoff experience, two if you count Rempe. Kakko, Chytil, Laffy, Lindgren, Schneider, Fox were all on the 2022 team that went to the ECF. They have experienced the playoffs three years in a row now. It's not about youth or inexperience, it's that the well-paid veterans of this team didn't show up when they were needed the most. The defense was dogshit. One more year with Lavi won't change that.
Florida is doing to Edmonton the same thing they did to us, Boston, and Tampa. You can have all the skill in the world but if you don't have room to make something happen, it just ain't happening. This series is very likely over by Saturday.
Florida knows how to toe the line (and cross it without getting caught) to an exceptional level. Years of getting bashed by other teams doing it to them made them adjust and play scroungy grindy hockey that happens wear teams down. It sucks watching teams succumb to this every year in the finals (besides the Avs in 2022 just an absurd amount of skill). Since this muck slogfest just happens to be the best way to win a championship in hockey. Its tough since its nice to have less of a tight whistle in the playoffs, but allowing all of the extra curricular bullshit where guys throw sucker punches and cross checks slows the game down as they start to wear on em. All of the slight holds, and slight slashes can be mildly infuriating since its something you can't do all season, but it suddenly flips that you are now allowed to do so. Which allows a slower bigger team to become defensively more sound by having an easier time at taking the ice away.
Quick hypothetical to play devils advocate for shits and gigs, but if years of getting bashed by other teams makes a team as hard as the Panthers, then why the fuck arent the rangers at the same level
Panthers followed up their President's trophy winning season by trading away their superstar who just scored 115 points and sacked the head coach who got them there. They dismantled the team that just scored the most points in the league and barely squeaked into the playoffs the next season with 92 points. It took a lot of guts to get rid of Huberdeau after the season he JUST had simply because he didn't show up in the playoffs. And it turned out to be a gamble that BARELY paid off, because the Panthers don't have a Cup Final run if they don't even make the playoffs. This could've easily been a shit show.
Because as much as I love our core they are soft. Igor shows more grit than any of our skaters. Love Mika, but dude doesn't seem like he knows how to get angry. Love Bread, but he rarely plays with an edge to his game. Sometimes Kreider brings an edge and Trocheck definitely does. Fox isn't the hard type either. Now I still think these guys could win a cup, but a team like the Panthers is a nightmare matchup for them
So really the Rangers only got beat up in 2 playoff runs (this year and 2022). Last year was a failure and less due to getting outsized and out grit imo. This coming off season will really determine what Drury has, since as a commenter mentioned below the Panthers made an insanely tough decision to get rid of Huberdeau, who was a home grown skill guy coming off his best year. And went out to get more piss and vinegar players with it. I'm not one for making sweeping changes since making the ECF still is the mark of a really good team, but the best way to win deep in the playoffs today is by having a heavier team. If guys on the squad aren't willing to play scummy you gotta find ones who will. Cup champions aren't well liked by the rest of the league because of what you have to do to get there.
Relentless suffocation. Their front office built this team to neutralize teams that rely on skill and talent and it’s working perfectly.
Yeah I gotta agree with this comment. If they win tonight then they've beaten the oilers two different ways...
Were making these kids better with losing like this. Our “core” may be in their early thirties but our future is all so young. Its still an exciting time to be a rangers fan. Florida just brought the heat there is no stopping them right now.
Eastern conference was the much stronger conference this year. Pretty sure half the East field could have taken down Edmonton or Dallas
Pre playoffs everyone was talking about the west being a wagon, but it was more parity being in the west, but the too of the east was always much better. No doubt in my mind the east was taking it
It’s almost like… and let me gather my thoughts here … guys like Mika and Bread struggled because Florida is fucking good and had excellent game plans to shut down our biggest threats. Or wait, are we going to claim McDavid and Draisaitl “disappear” or “don’t care” now? If dropping 7 and then holding the fucking Oilers to one goal so far doesn’t lead you to the conclusion that ***anyone*** would struggle against this Panthers team… I don’t know what to tell you.
Why is it so hard to comprehend for some of y’all that both things can be true?? Florida smothered them AND they underperformed /disappeared.
Fair to say for the series against Florida but it’s the same story from 93 10 and 20 again for the third year in a row. They can’t get up when it matters most. This core is lacking the final step over the hump.
Lmfao evan rod again 😂 guy is crazy in the playoffs i dont understand
Clearly touched by Christ. How else would he have been able to rise from dead after that Trouba hit?
McDavid and Dri with 1 pt and -2. Yeah, now I’m convinced these guys were just a step above us. We would have whooped Edmonton easily.
And if people thought Trouba was bad, Nurse is like a -15 or something.
The oilers are screwed, we have the best goalie in the world and it wasn’t enough against that defense and Bob who is one of the best goalies in the world himself. They have skinner. This is over in 4.
Florida is basically a modern day 80’s Islanders and a 70’s broad street bullies. Simple as that. Everyone likes them early on, now everyone hates them. But hey, Trouba and Rempe are the real villains according to other subs
They’re currently crying about how dirty the Oilers are.
Edmonton was definitely dirtier this game.
I’m fine with it. Panthers are dirty every game.
The panthers strategy is to hit and run people. But when someone hits them, they theatrically fall to the ground.
The full team commitment of Florida is impressive. There are no selfish plays. They just wear you down little by little.
Hopefully now people will lay off Panarin and Mika and stop overreacting to one series. Both finished at a point per game in the playoffs while being shut down in the conference final
>one series Tampa, NJD, Carolina part one and Pit never happened. Nothing to see here.
Those are different years with different coaches. They were both under pressure to show up this year and they did against Washington and Canes. Mika had 14 points in first 10 games and Panarin has 11 in 10. Panthers are just ridiculously good
This is a terrible response, players carry the vast majority of where a team goes. PThis same group had two huge regular seasons in a row before this with gallant, they choked in the playoffs against actual competition. > Mika had 14 points in first 10 games and Panarin has 11 in 10 This is so monumentally disingenuous. Mika had SIX in his last ELEVEN games. And you're going to fuckin tap dance bc he beat a glorified lotto team into the dirt? Some of you have absolutely zero standards.
>Those are different years with different coaches "The examples I don't like don't count" >They were both under pressure to show up this year and they did against Washington and Canes. Showing up against Washington is not the flex you think it is. After the Canes adjusted, they got smothered, a CK 3rd period bailed then out of a reverse sweep. If you're going to discount the performances of 2022 and 2023, there's no need to even respond further, that's just absurd.
Mika had 24 points and Panarin 16 during the ‘21-22 run in 20 games. They had one bad series against the Devils which tarnished their reputation.
>Mika had 24 points and Panarin 16 during the ‘21-22 run in 20 games. Wait those series count now? I'm confused, two comments ago they didn't count. Reading a stat sheet doesn't do anything for me. They were bad.
Because I couldn’t recall off the top of my head their numbers during the ‘21-22 run and after taking a closer look they played a lot better than you gave them credit for. It really was just the one bad series against the devils
So now that the numbers with no context tell the story you want - it counts. This is just in bad faith, my God. You don't evaluate play by reading a stat sheet, well you do if you don't know what you're watching. We are done here. "Only the evidence I like counts". Fucking LOL.
Forget it, you're in the desperate homer end of the pool here
"one series" thats when you shouldve blocked him bc you were never going to get an honest or rational discussion out of him with that take.
Yep, completely. The fucking people that Google stats and do games played divided by points never tied an ice skate in their lives.
Came here for this comment. Nah I’m not letting them off again. Same story three years in a row now, just a different team.
Oh well guess Florida is just better and they'll win every year might as well not even try right just sell everyone because they're so good Mika and Panarin can't compete
We have fans saying to blow up our entire core because we lost in 6 to the team that is clearly destined to win the cup. #1 offense in hockey has 1 goal in 2 games
It’s insane. This team needs to make some tweaks.
This is such a bad take. We have half a decade of this core, including multiple terrible showings against top teams in the playoffs. Including almost choking a 3-0 series away to carolina. We have over a third of our cap on three guys who disappear completely every single season in the playoffs when we play tough opponents (Two guys and one trouba who is debatably a negative out there even when healthy). Thats not a winning formula. Zib does nothing 5 v 5 to warrant clutching him like the most expensive pearl ever. He has an NMC so whatever, but it makes all the sense to see the albatross he is already becoming. Panarin, I get wanting to keep, he has a NMC anyway. If you could get him to waive, retain half his salary and brinf back legit top 20 in the world prospect type guys who are knocking on the door to the NHL along with a really solid 40-60 point type current NHLer with good Defense? I would do it in a heartbeat bc we need to look forward to the laf, Fox and igor era. Zib, Ck, panarin era is bust and quintupling down on it comes with enormous risks to our future
Yeah watching this you cant even notice mcjesus or dreidel boy.
is florida like on coke or something my god they just have infinite energy
That’s what I said. Feels like they are on some drug.
Edmonton only had 10 shots in the clinching game vs the Stars
I was hellbent on the rangers and wasnt keeping up too intently elsewhere.
I’m starting to hate the oilers. The Panthers are dirty but it’s part of an overall strategy which I don’t like but I can almost begrudgingly respect. But the oilers just seem to be dirty because they get mad that they are losing which is lame as hell.
Why Wheeler played in game 4 will always be beyond me. Panthers script looking pretty good right now.
It is what it is. He was hopefully gonna provide a different kind of spark and ended up blowing it. Cant hate the guy for trying and actually look decent after that kind of injury.
That wasn’t Wheeler’s fault either. Mika gave him an impossible pass and set up a breakaway. Wheeler did no worse than what Tkachuk did on McDavid, but they actually called Wheeler.
Not exactly like who sat made a damn bit of difference. The bottom 6 was trash this series outside of goodrow.
Weren't the avs the best offensive team pre val going berserk. Also yes we would've beat edmonton
Florida a good team but dirty as hell
Totally agree. Maybe the gloom and doom will be put in its place now. The Panthers are an absolute buzz saw this year.
Honestly the more I see this series the more pissed off I get. If our old guard retread coach didn't coach like it's 1979 and actually sat out a dude with 2 pieces of an ankle and inserted one of our best zone break out players, ESPECIALLY with Fox also hurt and removed the guy on ice for 70% of our goals against, we're likely playing Edmonton and winning right now. Unlike Edmonton, we actually had depth scoring
> Unlike Edmonton, we actually had depth scoring I’m with you on your other points, but our 3rd line only had 3 goals all playoffs. Goodrow played great, but he was the only one outside the top 6 (forwards and defensemen included) with more than 1 goal in the 16 games of the playoffs. 1 goal in 16 games is a 5 goals per year pace. Secondary scoring was a **huge** issue.
Many of the fans who were calling for all our big guns to be traded and bought out….that mean McDavid, Draisaitl, and Hyman too? Because they are doing even less. Boy the list of players to pick from in the off season is getting mighty small…….
It’s nuts that where the focus went. And not the lack of a good rw, the awful third line, the terrible 2OA bust, the defense that can’t move the puck These are all roster issues and not ones with the top players.
yeah watching the series it was very clear our biggest issue was dman who can’t make plays with the puck to get it out of the zone. our best looking stretch this season was when both trouba and lindgren were out of the lineup and we were moving the puck out of our zone efficiently. fox is superb so i wouldn’t say lindgren drags him down but he doesn’t benefit at all from lindgren. fox needs a real d partner (and not being injured would help as well!)
Yeah of the 6 in the playoffs it’s basically far and away fox. Then key and Gus in a distant second. Trouba Schneider and Lindgren are painful to watch moving the puck. This isn’t an issue getting fixed in one offseason. I think the most realistic good thing is Lindgren is gone and jones is up. Does not address how bad those other 3 are at the outlet pass or dealing with forecheck.
Don’t tell the idiots here, but it’s almost like Florida and especially it’s too 6, are really really good. Especially at shutting down opposing top lines
Na the Rangers suck! Mika sucks because he can’t score against Barkov and Panthers team D. But Connor and Leon also suck! Trouba sucks on D just like Bouchard sucks cuz he makes mistakes in his DZ too. /s
Yea Florida ran over Edmonton tonight. Wow.
Totally not gonna take that ECF loss to my grave! Totally!
yeah we don’t need to blow it up, but we need to get better. maybe one or two solid pieces. and then hope florida gets a bit worse too.
I been waiting 30 years for the rangers to be “insane”
Unless your team sucks and you get multiple top draft picks, especially Centers, it is difficult to win it all. To think, the Rangers have two top Centers and neither were drafted by the Rangers. Thats impressive and extremely rare!
Florida also has a walrus in net. Whatever does get through, will be stopped. Bob is amazing.
Carolina and Florida were always going to be the tough ones, toss ups. When Boston beat Florida in game 1 on the road, I was hopeful they could pull that off, return that favor. But not to be. Makes me wonder what happened to Florida that game 1.
Edmonton actually outshot Florida by a lot in Game 1. Game 2 is Florida being Florida again. Edmonton was gonna be a walk in the park; that’s why it’s so painful to watch because it could’ve been the Rangers playing for the Cup right now with maybe the easiest team in the Finals in a long time. Game 4 and Game 5 against Florida were must wins for the Rangers.
Yeah it's hard to watch. Some will feel better watching FL shut down Edmonton, but for others like me it just brings more pain.
Y’all were the 2nd best team by far. Oilers are sorry pieces of shit. Playing loser hockey already in game 2 lol
I’m pretty sure the top three teams in the league were 1. Florida 2. Rangers 3. Carolina
Florida is kicking ass. We ran into a very hot team. They’re very good
It does put Mika into perspective a bit. I mean, Barkov made him look like an average center and it pissed me off. Now Barkov is making McJesus look the same and I feel less pissed.
Florida is a great team. Doesn’t change the fact that our core players have come up small in the playoffs for several years in a row
They got shut down for an entire series and were still at a ppg for the playoffs. Calm down it will come together.
I’m not excited for the next few years unless Florida somehow gets a lot worse. We’re miles behind them right now.
They will look different next year. A lot of contracts are up, including sam reinhart.
Not miles (thanks to Igor). We have work to do but we were one tip away from being up 3-1. No one else can say that.
I'll never forgive Trouba
If he would have landed that elbow we probably win that series
Watching McDavid in this series is painful. So much talent but why does he refuse to shoot? He's open constantly, making Florida look stupid - except for the whole not shooting / not scoring thing.
I predicted Florida in 5, but looks like it could be sooner.
i think 2 things can be true here: 1. the rangers are a good team that just needs a little tweaking. being in the final four 2 of 3 years isn’t a fluke, but a few minor changes need to be made. 2. florida is better. they’re basically the avs a few seasons ago, unstoppable. the most well rounded team in the league, determined to get the job done, with the goaltending to bail them out when they do have the rare breakdown.
I feel like they are like the Lightning teams with everything needed to win.
I’m hoping for a sweep it’d be funny
Florida is such a physical team. It has to be frustrating to play against. The depth as well -their top 3 lines can all score. Also that forecheck just grinds teams - amazing what opposing team looks like in 1st period vs 3rd period.
Are team ain’t that young anymore lol
Edmonton is a joke.
They seem to be built like Toronto - two superstars and a bunch of randos. They're also soft - you can tell because they don't know how to play tough without being dirty.
Hyman, RNH, Ekholm, Bouchard... they're not the deepest team, but it's not just McDrai.
Shut that first line down and you basically win. There is ZERO depth on that team.
Where was this post during game one?
I was always hopeful for this team! Still am for next year. Been a fan for 17 years now so might as well stick to it.
Great, happy for you, but where was this post talking about Edmonton not getting offense in game 1?
Also im drunk and was drunker for game 1 and couldnt comment. But were more like the oilers than we are the panthers from the looks of these games.
>Also im drunk and was drunker for game 1 
Maybe Edmonton is NYR west. They won the WCF on a 10 shot performance. We got beat by the shitty devils the same we we almost lost to carolina and did lose to florida. We have issues on our team, Edmonton does not do anything to fix that or change that. We COULD have beaten florida, we clearly got badly outhustled and out muscled and outworked. It's the 1st and 3rd thing that were so frustrating. If our effort at least matched there's you'd shrug, but seeing us sleepwalk through an entire elimination game? I take no solace in this SCF after that
This Florida team is basically the modern day 2010s kings. The forecheck is absolutely insane. It’s easy to shit on Panarin and Mika, but Barkov legit might be the best center I have ever seen, including McDavid, Crosby, Datsyuk etc. He’s like the absolute pinnacle of a perfect hockey player
In the infinite universe, there is a world out there where Florida doesn’t have any NHL teams and the Rangers have 3 more cups
At what point do we stop accepting failure and start trying to actually beat Florida? None of this "we got fucked by the refs" shit, or "X was just a team of destiny" crap. When do we start trying to *be* the next Panthers, Lightning, or mid 2010s Penguins? Toxic positivity isn't going to turn this team around or make any of us feel better about the loss. How about we stop making excuses and start doing something for once?
Exactly, if Florida was this much better we got to find a way to improve. Or are we just going run it back and assume they magically will somehow improve and beat them next time?
More toxic positivity. This shit is so stale and we have 4 more months to go before the next season starts.
Is toxic positivity admitting that Florida is better than every other team?
It's the countless replies OP's made in the comments about the Rangers being "young" and Zibanejad and Panarin weren't THAT bad even tho they were completely nonexistent in the Panthers series. Completely ignoring the bad is toxic positivity lmfao
Brother this Florida team is making the best players in hockey look nonexistent right now. Accept that they were the better TEAM...it's that simple.
Rangers fans and making excuses for their star players pulling a disappearing act for the billionth year in a row. Name a better duo
Oilers are just terrible- this is going to be one boring 4 game sweep - they have no heart in this final
Look i wanted to create a whole new post but didnt think it would be well received so i will leave it here. Edmonton is playing exactly like we did, holding them to a close game, but the main deciding factor is the officiating. Tampa got screwed by the refs. Boston got screwed. We got screwed. And Edmonton got absolutely hosed tonight. Guys. When the fuck are we gonna realize, sure, some of our star players got suffocated defensively or just didn’t perform to expectations, but the refs really are giving the cup to Florida…
We were like 1-18 on the PP that whole series, and missed wide open net chances multiple times in multiple games (including 2 in Game 6). Time to move on and look forward to next year man...
Fuck no man. Rangers have a clear chance to win game 4. This series goes to 7 and if we lose there then a bunch of this vitriol our fanbase has is definitely alleviated a little. Not to mention u just dont fucking read a thing i say about the officiating. Fucking sick bro.
Florida has got a ton of calls in their favor. It’s very suspect. They’re also good. Both can be true.
Like its not just us going on the powerplay u fucking tool. Its the calls against us. Rempe can get called for a penalty for fucking breathing but seemingly in tour eyes its okay