The Rangers’ promising season comes to a disappointing end with a 2-1 loss to the Panthers in Game 6

O guardsA promising season filled with Stanley Cup hopes came to a disappointing end on 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 third time in franchise history. Sam Bennett It is Vladimir Tarasenko scored goals for the Panthers, who await the winner of the series between Edmonton and Dallas.

The Blueshirts, meanwhile, enter an off-season of what could have been and what would happen after winning the Presidents’ Trophy and a team-record 55 games. But they finished before their first World Cup final since 2014 and their first World Cup since 1994.

Here are the key takeaways…

– The Rangers were resilient all season and set an NHL record with 34 comeback wins between the regular season and playoffs combined. But they were unable to mount another comeback 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 out of the net for an extra striker to pull Rangers to 2-1.

-Several of the Rangers biggest stars on offense have struggled throughout the series and this will no doubt be the storyline leading into next season. Mika Zibanejad It is Adam Fox did not score a goal in the six games and Panarin and Chris Kreider I had one each. Alexis Lafrenière led the Rangers with four goals and Barclay Goodrow there were three.

-The Rangers had early momentum in the first period, but it ended in a 1-0 loss as the Panthers took control of the game and benefited from a turnover in the neutral zone to score with 49.3 seconds left in the period. Sam Bennett landed a hard slap that hit Shesterkin on the glove side after a nice exchange with Evan Rodrigues. Bennett brought the puck to the zone and Rodrigues was free after Jacob Trouba I tried checking it and got it wrong. The Rangers checked 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 played and the period ended with Florida beating the Rangers 11-9. Shesterkin stopped Matthew Tkachuk on a breakout during the period, perhaps aided by a K’Andre Miller this was not called. Tkachuk certainly wanted a call. The Rangers had a lucky chance late in the period when the puck ricocheted into the Panthers’ box after a carom off the back wall. They almost scored the goal because the puck bounced too close to Bobrovsky’s skate. But the Rangers couldn’t get him in 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-ice pass down to Vladimir Tarasenko, which was parked to Shesterkin’s left. The puck was played in the Ranger zone and Lundell and Miller hunted it down and Lundell beat it to start the play that resulted in the goal.

-The Rangers’ power play was a strong point during the regular season, but PP struggled against the Panthers. He entered Game 6 going 1-for-14 on the power play during the series and then 0-for-1 in Game 6.

-The Rangers reworked some lines at the beginning of the game, moving Alex Wennberg to the first line and placing him on the wing with Chris Kreider and center Mika Zibanejad. Filip Chytilwho had been a winger on that line, was transferred to the center of the third line and Jack Roslovic 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 goalie saved 22 of 23 shots in a crucial game.

Highlights