The Rangers are making their second appearance in three years in the Conference Finals. Despite winning the Presidents’ Trophy, they remain underdogs in the Final Four.

It’s a role they’re accustomed to. The Vegas odds makers had them behind the Hurricanes and Panthers to come out of the Eastern Conference. Carolina was viewed as the favorite due to the addition of Jake Guentzel. The Panthers are the defending Wales Conference champions.

Even though they earned home ice by finishing with the league’s best record, the Rangers weren’t looked at as the best team. They’ve defied the odds all season long. What’s one more round where they’re being counted out?

The Oilers advanced to the Conference Finals by holding on for a 3-2 win in Game 7 to defeat the Canucks on Monday night. Even they’re getting better odds to win the Stanley Cup. They’ll take on the Stars out West.

The Panthers remain the betting favorite to win the Cup. The Stars and Oilers are right behind. The Rangers are fourth on the list. If you put any stock in it, getting the Rangers at +400 could be worth a few bucks.

Personally, it doesn’t matter. The Rangers know they have their work cut out for them in this round. The Panthers are a more dangerous opponent due to their combination of skill, grit, and physicality. They’re a very effective team at five-on-five. That’ll present a challenge.

Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe, and Sam Reinhart are a handful. Tkachuk will pay the price to score goals. Ever since they acquired him, it’s made the Panthers more formidable. They’re much tougher to play against.

Florida boasts a strong defense featuring Aaron Ekblad, Gustav Forsling, and Brandon Montour eat up tons of ice time. They’re all good at getting involved offensively.

The Cats possess some strong depth up front. Vladimir Tarasenko is a shooting threat. Anton Lundell is quietly having a good postseason. Sam Bennett is a noted pest. The Bruins can attest to that. Evan Rodrigues has supplied secondary scoring.

Sergei Bobrovsky is also better than Frederik Andersen. He’s more proven. Artemi Panarin knows him well from their days in Columbus. They are best friends who attended each other’s weddings. Of course, there’s no such thing in the playoffs. That’s where the battle lines are drawn.

Panarin has had good success against Bobrovsky. In three meetings between the Rangers and Panthers this season, he scored three goals and added one assist. Florida took the season series by going 2-0-1.

When the puck drops on Wednesday night for Game 1, none of that matters. The Rangers will look to protect home ice. They were successful in the first two rounds- taking the first two games against the Capitals and Hurricanes. They should get a strong challenge from the Panthers.

It’s understandable why Florida is the Cup favorite at this stage. They lost to the Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Finals last year. They have a strong core looking to finish the job.

Paul Maurice is still in search of his first Cup. Despite an impressive resume, he’s 0-for-2 in the Finals. It took him 21 years to get back. His first trip came in 2001-02 with the Hurricanes. They lost to the Red Wings in five. In 2022-23, after the Panthers went through the Bruins, Maple Leafs, and Hurricanes to become Eastern Conference champions, they lost in five to the Golden Knights.

Ironically, it was Peter Laviolette who took over for Maurice in Carolina. He guided the Hurricanes to the Cup in 2005-06. They defeated the Oilers in seven. Laviolette now coaches the Rangers. It’s an intriguing subplot to what should be an exciting series.

Even if they’re not getting much respect from Vegas, the Rangers won’t use that as motivation. They know what’s expected. When things got interesting in the second round, they rose to the challenge. Chris Kreider’s natural hat trick in the third period led to a come from behind 5-3 win over the Hurricanes to take Game 6. They showed tremendous resolve to finally put the Canes away.

There’s enough experience in the Rangers’ locker room to handle the pressure. They didn’t win all of those games for no reason. They’ve proven themselves to reach this point. The goal is to win a championship. Something that hasn’t been done by the franchise in 30 years.

Perhaps they can use what happened in 2022 as some incentive. They won the first two games against the Lightning. However, the former two-time Stanley Cup champs rallied to win the next four games to take the series in six.

It was a valuable lesson learned. A nucleus that includes Kreider, Panarin, Mika Zibanejad, Adam Fox, Ryan Lindgren, Jacob Trouba, K’Andre Miller, Braden Schneider, Vincent Trocheck, Alexis Lafreniere, Filip Chytil, Kaapo Kakko, Barclay Goodrow, and Igor Shesterkin have been through it before. Only Trocheck wasn’t on that team. He’s been the most important forward for Laviolette. He uses him in every situation, including on key faceoffs.

There are no shortcuts to being successful at this time of the year. It’s all hands on deck.

Whether they’re underdogs or not, it doesn’t matter. Nothing should faze them.