Devils’ attack again flatlines in another Raleigh shutdown

Posted on April 23, 2025 by hasan4978

Another playoff game in Raleigh, another defeat…the script has been old for the last fifteen years but it never changes. Now we’re 1-13 in our last fourteen playoff games at that house of horrors, with every chance we don’t get another game there this series. Sure, we’re going back to New Jersey now for two games. Obviously, the effort was better in Game 2, though it wasn’t much of a bar to clear compared to Game 1 but the goals never really came other than Jesper Bratt’s opener when for once the Devils actually got off to a good start in the game and controlled the first twenty minutes.

Take a good look cause that’s the only Devil ‘highlight’ from Game 2 you’ll see unless you want to look up some more Jacob Markstrom saves, or even the couple of clearances off the goal line Brett Pesce did. Even Pesce playing his butt off against his former team couldn’t overcome the lack of offense. Ironically, the major concern going into Game 2 was our injuries on defense with both Brendan Dillon and Luke Hughes being ruled out for last night’s game. Honestly it has to be said even with Dennis Cholowski and out-of-favor Simon Nemec taking their place, the actual defensive zone play didn’t slide too much.

Of course, where we did actually miss Luke more than in our own zone was offensively, specifically the power play which was brutal again, even giving up a shorthanded goal as the Canes re-established control in the first six minutes of the second period with two quick goals from Shayne Gostisbehere and Jordan Martinook (does this guy ever kill anyone besides us in the playoffs?). With our hideous offense even that two-goal spasm proved to be enough, as the Canes would grind out a workman-like 3-1 victory, only clinching it with an empty-netter late.

I’m past the point of giving the Devils credit for trying…sure in a vacuum last night’s effort was good and clearly there’s a talent issue now missing half your starting defense and best offensive player and I suppose the 7-10 points we dropped going at half speed for much of the second half really doesn’t matter at this point since it would have been the same matchup anyway – but now it’s obvious once again we’re in a position where we’re just hoping to get a token win to keep up the franchise’s odd badge of honor in never being swept in a playoff series. Two years off from having one of the best seasons in franchise history, we weren’t supposed to go backwards but barring a miracle the rest of this series, that will happen now.

There isn’t much else I can or want to say about last night’s game, to be honest I’ve been so beaten down by the Devils’ second half I didn’t even bother watching. I’ve missed watching road playoff games before but this is one I just flat out opted out of. I did listen to much of the game on replay later on but obviously wasn’t invested in it. Even after hearing about Bratt’s goal and the Devils’ first period, you knew a Canes surge would be coming. To be honest, I half thought we would tie the game late then immediately blow it once again, because that also seems to be a staple of Hurricane playoff series.

Right now I’m fully expecting Friday to be my last home game of the season, because I’m not going to show up in the building on a lovely Sunday afternoon if we’re down 3-0 (which I do expect now, despite my picking Carolina in 5 before the series, even I didn’t think a sweep was likely) when I could be hanging out with friends instead. Quite honestly this team doesn’t deserve to have me go down with the ship anyway. 2023’s team did, even the 2008 team that annoyingly lost almost every single game to the Rangers and of course got eliminated on home ice, at least that team gave effort for the most part. I’m not giving them any credit for finally clocking in a shift for Game 2 when the odds were stacked against them and they were in full nothing to lose mode. Where was this effort from late December on?

I know there’s a talent issue…the lack of a pulse from the bottom six is largely on the GM’s failures both in terms of contracts he did give out, and guys he didn’t ultimately get or traded away. Defensively the lack of a transition game is also on Fitz – even with a healthy Luke and Dougie this team struggled with that all season. Without Luke and a rusty Dougie? Forget it. That said, I’m sorry but we need even more from our top guys up front than we’ve gotten. Sure, Bratt and Nico Hischier have the only goals of the series but by and large they’ve been invisible or ineffective for much of their postseason career. At least neither has been as bad as the overrated Timo Meier though.

It’s bad enough the $8.8 million man screwed up the backcheck on one of Carolina’s second period goals by pinching in when he didn’t have coverage. This kind of stupidity unfortunately is all too commonplace within the team at the moment…but what we are paying this guy more for is to score goals. And barring some great March streaks he really hasn’t been the dominant force we thought we were getting from San Jose, nothing close. Especially in the playoffs where he has two goals and four points in thirteen playoff games. His agonizing near-miss at the end just says it all…sure the puck was bouncing a bit, but there’s always another excuse.

It’s been a while since I’ve disliked a Devil as much…maybe Ilya Kovalchuk during the dark days of 2010 or Brian Rolston around that same time. Timo’s a bit of both, a disappointment in terms of being expected to be a difference maker and being anything but a la early Kovalchuk and a guy who relies on a slapshot too much and doesn’t actually have another way to score goals (or contribute to the team at all) a la Rolston. You’d think a guy who put up 30+ goals three times in San Jose wouldn’t be this bad at actually putting the puck in the net. He had 66 goals and 128 points in his last 134 games in San Jose, and conversely has had 68 goals and 123 points in 183 games as a Devil. From a point a game to about 2/3 of a point in a game, that’s just not good enough and the playoff production of two goals and four points in thirteen games is a major issue. Especially when you can’t actually count on the depth guys to add anything at this point.

Friday is definitely last stand time for this team’s season, everyone knows it. Sure a handful of teams have come back from 3-0 down in the playoffs before, this year’s version of a ‘team’ isn’t going to be one of those. Even if they ride the home crowd and a bit of line matching to a win in Game 3 and compel me to attend Game 4, who really has confidence that A) we’ll sweep all three home games and B) we’ll come through in any must-win late-series game at Raleigh? I know if this second half of the season had gone another way, really if the last two years had been different I wouldn’t be this annoyed trying to get blood out of a stone at this point. I’m not counting on the role playing schleps to do anything, but the veterans and best players have to step up if this team’s going to actually show some fight at home, where they haven’t been all that great this year either.

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Rangers reveal a lot on breakup day

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Derek

Breakup day was today for the Rangers. There’s a lot to digest. Following a disappointing season that saw them fail to qualify for the postseason for the first time in four years, the players revealed a lot to reporters in the locker room.

Before we get to the interesting stuff, Calvin de Haan heaped some high praise on Igor Shesterkin. “He’s probably the best player on the team. Fuck, he’s good. I think we pissed away some good goaltending [this season].”

De Haan also expanded on his frustration last week over not playing after getting into three games following the trade from Colorado. “It might have just been a teleprompter answer, frankly, just welcome to the team, that kind of thing… They alluded to the fact that I was part of a trade for a Ranger who was a good Ranger for a long time. I was told I was going to part of the team moving forward and get an opportunity.”

Obviously, he was referring to Ryan Lindgren, who was part of a core that reached two Conference Finals and won a Presidents’ Trophy. De Haan was acquired along with Juuso Parssinen from the Avalanche in exchange for Lindgren, Jimmy Vesey, and Hank Kempf on Mar. 1. The Rangers also received 2025 second and fourth round picks.

His transparency was refreshing compared to how buttoned up the organization is. There was a communication breakdown that contributed to the Rangers’ demise. Even Chris Drury acknowledged yesterday that communication is a priority following a chaotic season in which several players were unhappy about ice time and being scratched.

“I know for a fact Lavi is really big on communication and communicated to his players throughout his two years here. Where they stood and why they were out or why they were in or what their role was or wasn’t. Communication is a priority. Being a former player myself, I always liked to know where I stood and we always try to do that with players every single day.”

For his part, Zac Jones took responsibility for what he said earlier this season. “Listen, I said what I said this year — and I don’t take it back. I stand by what I said. When you’re in this role and some days are better than others and you get asked question, question, question. I know you guys have a job to do, too, but same time it kind of eats at you. And eventually I kind of just blew up. I shouldn’t have said what I said to you guys, that’s on me. I should’ve kept it private and kept it in the locker room. Sometimes things happen, emotions get the best of you.”

Now 24, Jones is a restricted free agent this summer. Despite being in and out of the lineup, he set career bests in games played (46), assists (10), points (11), and penalty minutes (24). If he remains with the team, the 2019 third round pick needs to have a more defined role. If it isn’t here, maybe Jones can find a new home. He deserves a real chance to show what he can do. Before Monday, he said that he wants to work on improving his shot. Jones only scored one goal this season. For a defenseman with his skill set, he needs to hit the net with more regularity.

Kreider Reveals that he had Vertigo and might need Surgery

One of the biggest news items of the day was Chris Kreider finally speaking openly to reporters about his season. After struggling with a back issue, he admitted that a weird illness that went to his inner ear caused him to develop vertigo following the Christmas break.

Kreider also suffered a hand injury in the first game back following the 4 Nations. He might need to have surgery. As for how he felt about the trade memo, he said he didn’t even find out about it until people close to him mentioned it.

“I mean, that wasn’t the first time. Won’t be the last time. That kind of stuff comes out. That’s part of professional sports unfortunately. Lucky I don’t have any social media, I wasn’t really aware of it until people close to me brought it to my attention. Just try to show up and do your job to the best of your abilities.”

However, Kreider was brutally honest about the subtraction of popular teammates Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba. “It’s part of professional sports, but, obviously, at a certain point it becomes somewhat of a distraction…Two guys that were massive leaders for us and a big part of our room. I just think there was its dynamic and it’s changing an environment like that. Not even to get into the personal relationships we all had, what good people they are, things that they did… It was certainly challenging.”

Kreider would love to stay put. “I mean, this is home for me. This is the organization that gave me an opportunity to live out my dream. I’ve developed so many incredible relationships and grown up and spent in this area. So, obviously, this is where I want to be and this is the group I want to help in whatever fashion and win hockey games.”

Schneider played with a Torn Labrum for two years

For two years, Braden Schneider played with a torn labrum. Somehow, he played through the injury the last two seasons. He had it since 2022-23 but wanted to keep playing to help the team win games.

Schneider had surgery to repair the tear on Apr. 17. He’s in a sling for four weeks and won’t start skating until three months from now.

Knowing that he had a serious injury for so long, it begs the question what the Rangers medical staff was doing for all this time. If he was so banged up, why didn’t they sit him out for some games. They never placed Kreider on injured reserve until he suffered the hand injury. They had options. They could’ve called up reinforcements from Hartford or played other players.

There’s something fundamentally wrong with the organization. They must have no confidence in developing players. Look how long it took for Matthew Robertson to make his NHL debut. In his two appearances at the end of the season, the 2019 second round pick played well enough to help make a case for the future. The way they do things is absurd. It doesn’t make any sense.

Trocheck tries to stay Positive

While Mika Zibanejad sounded downtrodden over his season, even indicating that the first few months was the toughest he’s ever been through in his career, Vincent Trocheck had a different outlook on things.

“I think it’s on us, inside this room, in order to make sure that the outside noise doesn’t get to us. Whether that’s talking to somebody individually or if it’s just sticking together as a team and as a family and I think we can get better at that. Lifting guys up instead of bringing guys down, I think that goes a long way.”

“I really believe in this locker room. I believe in everybody. I obviously believe in the talent we have. I just think it’s a matter of us as a team sticking together, figuring out the right way to go about things moving into next year. And once we have that team belief, then it all starts to snowball in a positive direction.”

Trocheck should be in consideration for the next Rangers captain. Unlike some of the other players that have been here longer, he seems to have a different mentality. It’s similar to close friend and teammate J.T. Miller, who wasn’t there due to losing a close personal friend. Condolences go out to Miller and his friend’s family.

Shesterkin says something broke

When at his locker, Shesterkin felt that something broke during the season. He said that they weren’t able to handle it. Judging from the interview, he was uncertain what went wrong. It sounded like he was hinting at the team being fragile. Unlike past seasons, they weren’t able to bounce back from tough losses.

In 2023-24, the Rangers handled adversity much better. They were a much mentally stronger group who were resilient. Moving forward, they must get back to that mentality. It can’t be the sky is falling after a couple of losses. You could feel the doom and gloom from watching the players’ body language and expressions during games. It was very frustrating.

Fox doesn’t blame Laviolette

Adam Fox couldn’t understand why they can’t be more successful with a coach. He hasn’t been here that long but will already be on his fourth coach in seven years. Fox didn’t blame Peter Laviolette for the team’s failures. Instead, he mentioned wanting a coach to last as long as they have.

“It’s hard not to look at us as players and say, ‘Why is that happening?’ We seem to have a lot of success and then I don’t know, it turns. I don’t think us as players at any point didn’t like Lavi or thought his message wasn’t getting through. It just seemed the execution of it was not there. I think we want to be able to come in with a coach that’s here for as long as we’re all here. Even outlast us as players because that means we’re having a lot of success.”

For Fox, he’s seen three coaches get dismissed after two seasons. It started with David Quinn, who actually outlasted both Gerard Gallant and Laviolette. Quinn replaced Alain Vigneault following 2017-18. He oversaw the rebuild and had to deal with Covid abbreviated years. Gallant replaced him in 2021-22. Laviolette replaced Gallant in 2023-24. Maybe both can give John Tortorella a buzz and get together for a drink. They’d sure have a lot to discuss when it comes to the Rangers.

Miller disappointed in his season

K’Andre Miller was very honest in his assessment. He admitted that he was disappointed in his season. He said that the noise became a distraction.

“I mean, not just my game, I think throughout this team I think there was a lot of ups and downs throughout the year. I was obviously a big part of that. I didn’t love how my season this year, I was listening to a lot of the noise and just not really playing the game I wanted to play. That was a hard season for me to kind of get a grip of how I wanted to play. There was a lot of noise at the beginning, but I thought I did a good job of just staying true to myself and showing up every day with a smile on my face and willingness to get better.”

It really sounds like Miller put too much pressure on himself. He was playing for a contract. It doesn’t feel like he handles the mental side of the game well enough. In the past, he took a break to speak to a therapist. Maybe that should be permanent. A talented player, he continues to make the same mistakes. His game hasn’t improved since Gallant was fired. Astonishingly, he set career bests in goals (9), assists (34), and points (43) in 2022-23. He’s trended in the wrong direction since. He remains a polarizing player due to his potential.

Miller has enjoyed being a Ranger. If I were him, I’d tell my agent to try to get another short-term deal. He still needs to prove that he’s worth keeping long-term. Maybe another bridge deal would work. If it motivates him, he can come in with a different approach and prove himself to whoever the next coach is.

Lafreniere didn’t make a difference

When asked to assess his season, Alexis Lafreniere said it was disappointing. He got off to a good start but struggled with consistency. He felt like he didn’t make a difference.

“I always expect a lot out of myself. Obviously, when you sign for more money, there’s always a little bit more pressure. I try not to think about it too much. If I make whatever the amount of money, I just want to perform the best I can. I don’t think I did that this year.”

A year removed from establishing personal bests in goals (28), assists (29), and points (57), the 23-year-old forward saw a dip in his overall game. Lafreniere finished with 17 goals and 28 assists for 45 points in 82 games. His plus/minus was a career worst minus-13.

Despite getting a contract extension that’ll pay him a $7.45 million cap hit starting next season through 2032, Lafreniere’s play suffered. There were times where he looked disinterested. He didn’t always hustle back. For a consensus top pick in 2020, Lafreniere isn’t well schooled defensively. Aside from the lack of production, which included attempting almost 100 fewer shots, he was caught out of position too often on goals against. He must regain his confidence offensively and become more committed to the defensive side.

Zibanejad takes ownership for season

When asked about his year, Zibanejad took ownership for his season. He clearly struggled to establish himself at both five-on-five and on the power play. With his offense suffering, it affected the defensive side of the puck. A once reliable two-way center, Zibanejad was beaten much more frequently by opponents for goals against. He finished the season with a minus-22 rating. It was his worst since going a minus-23 in 2017-18.

He also mentioned the team needing to improve on communicating with each other. He indicated that things could be better. They all want the same thing. To be standing there talking about winning the Stanley Cup. In order for that to happen, a lot must change. The question is will he be around for it. Nobody knows what will happen in the off-season.

Zibanejad finished the season stronger to wind up with 20 goals and 40 assists for 62 points. He was more productive when Laviolette played him on the right side with Miller and Will Cuylle. The Rangers aren’t paying him $8.5 million to be a right wing. He’s supposed to be a two-way center. At 32, he should still have some good years ahead of him. He needs to refocus and work on improving both his skating and getting stronger mentally. He seemed to break down due to all the distractions.

A look at what’s ahead

A lot more could be said about where things are. There’s going to be changes coming ahead. That will include a new coach, with the list of candidates including current Pens coach Mike Sullivan, Canucks coach Rick Tocchet (in negotations), Tortorella, Joel Quenneville, Denver coach David Carle, and Jeff Halpern. Both former assistants Michael Peca and Dan Muse could interview for the job.

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Devils live down to worst-case expectations in Game 1 loss at Raleigh

Posted on April 20, 2025 by hasan4978

If I didn’t know better I’d swear this was 2023…or 2006, or 2002. Whatever year you want to name where the Devils go down to Carolina to start a series and promptly look intimidated and not ready to play playoff hockey, today proved to be no different than any of those series openers in Raleigh. Of course if you’ve been watching and/or paying attention to the Devils for weeks, Easter afternoon’s 4-1 no-show wasn’t even a surprise, it was almost expected – at least from where I’m sitting.

Frankly the only thing that really kept 4-1 from matching the 6-1 of two years ago was strong play by Jacob Markstrom, particularly in the first two periods as the Canes piled up shot after shot. An outcome by the way that coach Sheldon Keefe is all too willing to concede, in an astonishing admission after the game saying that we weren’t going to outshoot them in any game the entire series. Even if it’s highly likely to be true and Carolina outshot their opponents in about 75% of games this season (including all four against us), that almost feels like you’re giving too much respect to the opponent by ceding that before at least another three games are played.

I mean instead of bemoaning the fact they shoot from anywhere and everywhere, maybe it’s time to take a page out of their book and start putting pucks on net, looking for greasy goals instead of still being a perimeter team trying to make the pretty play without our best perimeter player? Carolina’s first goal is the perfect example of this when Jalen Chatfield threw a puck on net, William Carrier coasted in front of the net close enough for Brian Dumuolin to be unable to move him without knocking him into Markstrom as Chatfield’s shot was going in for the most unsurprising goal in the first three minutes of a game ever. And a tone-setting one at that.

Yeah maybe we’re destined to be outshot by Carolina this entire series, but being outshot 38-13 in the first two periods is flat out inexcusable. Honestly I’m not sure if they were intimidated by the torrid atmosphere in Raleigh the way they were to start the series two years ago, if they flat out don’t believe in themselves with the Jack Hughes and Jonas Siegenthaler injuries, or if they just don’t give a crap anymore. I’m not sure it matters at this point cause none of those would be a good sign, though it probably is some combination of at least the first two. Especially with the horrifically dumb too many men on the ice we took in the first period while on a power play.

I’d like to think option three isn’t really the answer, but I have seen this script before – the 2009-10 Devils to be exact. A team that had a great, overachieving first half then for reasons known only to them petered out in the second half with a .500 finish no-showing through a bunch of games, then had an almost complete no-show of a playoff series against the Flyers, bowing out in five easy games to the #7 seed who would go onto make a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals that year. This team has reminded me so much of that team – which got Jacques Lemaire essentially fired – it’s kinda scary to be honest. It took hitting rock bottom after the first half of 2010-11 before a much-needed cleansing finally took place.

Hopefully we won’t need to do anything as drastic as firing two coaches, benching a HOF goaltender (albeit briefly) or trading a captain out the door the way that team did, but I’m not sure it won’t take comparable drastic measures to fix what’s wrong with these Devils at this point. There’s only so much of this you can put down to talent…to me we’re an 80-point team masquerading as a 90-point team, with the mentality of a 50-point team. It’s not as simple as saying well it’s the GM’s fault – although Tom Fitzgerald certainly will have plenty of things to answer for if things don’t improve in this series – or it’s the players’ fault, the coach’s fault, everyone has to take some share of the blame for these last three months. The full inquest can wait at least a week though, hopefully longer and not quite as widespread as it would seem to be now.

To be honest, I really don’t want to do the full game inquest anyway. You didn’t even have to be paying full attention to the game to see that Carolina pretty well dominated the first forty minutes and the Devils looked outclassed and intimidated once again in Raleigh, where they’ve now dropped to 1-12 in playoff games since 2001. Stealing one of the first two on the road doesn’t exactly sound so daunting, except when you consider the fact that we’d likely need to win two on the road because it’s also unlikely we sweep the home games with our lack of home-ice advantage. Oh I’m sure the crowd on Friday will at least start ramped and ready to go even if the worst-case scenario of being down 0-2 happens, but it probably won’t take long for the home fans to turn on the team, given just how bad things have been.

For what little ‘analysis’ I did on the effect that the Martin Necas and Mikko Rantanen trades and the effect cashing out on both might have had on their offense…by the same token does it really surprise anyone that Logan Stankoven – the younger forward who they got back in the latter trade – scored two of the goals?

Notice the nice feed from Taylor Hall on the latter…does that really surprise anyone either? Even when Nico Hischier finally scored to break the shutout late in the second, the goal was met with more of a golf clap and a shrug from me than anything else. At least Nico evened his account after a bad giveaway from the captain caused one of the earlier Carolina goals. Still, three goals in eighteen playoff games isn’t cutting it. Neither is Jesper Bratt’s two career playoff goals. I don’t want to hear that how can the stars produce when the depth is such crap – when Carolina’s depth guys have gone crazy on us time and again is it really too much to ask for more from our ‘best’ players?

For a game that was ostensibly still within reach, it really wasn’t…although the Devils finally outshot the Canes in the third period it was a score effects shot total and very little truly threatened Freddie Andersen in goal throughout the match. You would have liked to have tested a guy more that gave up twenty goals in his previous four games before the playoffs and to be honest, the goal he gave up was a bit of a clunker as well.

It felt like Petr Sykora’s goal in Game 7 against the Avs after we got down 3-0 and had already blown the Cup in 2001. Like yay for breaking the shutout…yawn. Andrei Svechnikov’s empty-netter sealed the inevitable with just over two and a half minutes remaining. One chance down, only a few more left. Carolina’s not exactly an easy team to beat if you’re playing at your best (particularly with our injury issues – that got multiplied by losing defenseman Brendan Dillon, forward Cody Glass and even briefly Luke Hughes all in this game), but we were nowhere near our best in any facet of Game 1, from coaching on down. If Keefe is as good a coach as many Devil fans hope he is, well buddy this is why you’re getting paid whatever the heck it is you’re getting paid here…find a way to get more out of what’s left of this team and at least make this a series before we head for an easy and quick exit.

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The Panarin Problem that Won’t Go Away

Posted on April 20, 2025 by Derek

Artemi Panarin is the best player on the New York Rangers. Since signing a seven-year contract worth $81.5 million on July 1, 2019, he’s been the best free agent the Rangers have ever had in franchise history.

A great skater who makes teammates better due to his tremendous playmaking skills and tremendous vision, Panarin has led the Rangers in scoring for six straight seasons. After achieving career bests with 49 goals and 71 assists for 120 points in 2023-24, the 33-year-old forward posted 37 goals and 52 assists for 89 points to pace the Blueshirts in 2024-25.

Despite the Bread Man producing some of his best hockey down the stretch, it wasn’t good enough to get the team into the playoffs. For the first time since he joined the Rangers, Panarin finished with a minus rating (-9). It was more an indication of how flawed the roster was. They weren’t good enough defensively and lacked discipline and structure. For those reasons, Peter Laviolette was dismissed a day before Easter with Phil Housley joining him. Once again, the Rangers are searching for a new coach.

Over his six-year career as a Ranger, Panarin has averaged over a point-per-game. In fact, his numbers are exemplary of the star he is. In 430 games, he has 186 goals and 364 assists for 550 points. That kind of consistent production has made him one of the game’s brightest stars. Unfortunately, it’s yet to result in a Stanley Cup. The Rangers made two appearances in the Conference Finals but fell short of their goal.

Panarin, MSG Reached Settlement with Former MSG Employee for Sexual Assault Claim

A day after Panarin won the Team MVP and Good Guy award as voted by the media, Katie Strang delivered a bombshell in an exclusive story that appeared in The Athletic. Panarin and MSG reached a settlement agreement with a former employee who allegedly accused him of sexual assault in December 2023.

In August 2024, the woman left the organization after reaching agreement on non-disclosure and no admission of wrongdoing clauses. According to Strang, several people in the organization knew about the agreements and why she no longer was employed by MSG. The individuals who spoke to The Athletic about the story had their identity withheld due to still having jobs in hockey.

The alleged assault occurred in December 2023 during a Rangers road trip, according to two Rangers sources briefed about the allegation. Panarin and the woman, who was a regular part of the team’s traveling party, were at a postgame gathering at a hotel with about a dozen other players and staff members. Panarin allegedly took her phone and said he would only give it back if she retrieved it from his hotel room, the sources said. When she went to his hotel room to retrieve her device, Panarin pinned her down on the bed. She pushed him off, retrieved her phone and left the room.

There is no record of the woman reporting the incident to law enforcement. Both MSG and the NHL consider the matter closed. When approached about the story, neither Panarin nor his agent responded to the request.

In a separate story, the same woman shared her anti-anxiety medication with a player. She suffered from anxiety from airplane travel, which the player also had. However, it’s considered dangerous for anyone to share medicine. MSG placed her on paid leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Feeling that she’d been treated unfairly, she then informed the team of the alleged assault. MSG Sports held a virtual meeting with Rangers staff members and a human resources representative. An attorney warned them not to discuss the woman’s situation.

One person who worked for the Rangers at the time the woman was placed on leave said the suddenness of the woman’s exit made it a topic of conversation within the organization: “It’s not a secret at all anytime someone vanishes.”

It wasn’t the first time Panarin was accused of assault. In February 2021, reports surfaced in a Russian newspaper that he physically assaulted an 18-year-old woman in Latvia back in 2011. He took a personal leave of absence to return home to his family.

The Rangers denied the accusations, labeling it as an intimidation tactic due to Panarin’s strong comments on Russian politics, in reference to Vladimir Putin. Despite the hysteria, nothing ever came of it. It magically went away. He returned to the team and completed the 2020-21 season.

Questions Remain for Panarin, Rangers

There are two schools of thought. If the alleged assault took place during the 2023-24 season, how come we never heard about it until now? MSG must’ve kept it under wraps. They like to bury these stories and hope they’ll go away without ever becoming public.

How come Panarin never missed a single game? That doesn’t sit well with many fans now. At the time, he was in contention for the Hart Trophy. When such serious allegations are made, it shouldn’t be ignored. Both MSG and the Rangers addressed the situation without anyone knowing what happened. Maybe that’s what the woman wanted. It still makes me feel a little uncomfortable.

Obviously, big corporations will do exactly what MSG did to address what happened with Panarin and the woman. When asked if he had anything to say about the story from reporters following the final game of the season on Apr. 17, Panarin said, “No.” He also asked why. As if it wasn’t a big topic of discussion. That response didn’t come off well.

Panarin put himself in a bad situation. If it was a prank, it wasn’t well thought out. He took her phone and forced her to come to his hotel room to get it back. Then, he allegedly pinned her down before she wrestled it away. At the time of the alleged incident, his wife was pregnant with their first child. Even if he didn’t do anything wrong, it looks bad.

The Rangers have a lot of questions moving forward this off-season. At the top of the list is naming a new head coach. They also will be making changes to the roster, with possibly both Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad getting moved this summer. Panarin will likely remain with the team to play the final year of his contract. He wasn’t disciplined. They should have investigated what happened. That falls on MSG.

Will the league conduct an investigation into the alleged incident? They like to turn a blind eye to things. Regardless, it’s a subject that won’t go away anytime soon. What an embarrassing season.

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Rangers Fire Laviolette and Housley following Dismal Season

Posted on April 19, 2025 by Derek

Following one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history, the New York Rangers fired coach Peter Laviolette on Saturday. Assistant coach Phil Housley also was dismissed.

Considering how miserable the year was, it was expected. Following a terrific 2023-24 season in which he guided the Rangers to a 55-23-4 record with 114 points for the league’s best record, Laviolette didn’t come close to duplicating that success which included a run to the Conference Finals. Instead, a dark cloud hovered over Madison Square Garden. A team that at one point was 12-4-1 finished a forgettable season with a 39-36-7 record with 85 points, failing to qualify for the postseason.

It wasn’t all Laviolette’s fault for what happened. A lot of the blame goes to Rangers team president and general manager Chris Drury for his complete mishandling of last off-season. A successful team coming off a Presidents’ Trophy was fractured due to both Barclay Goodrow getting dumped on waivers to the Sharks, and captain Jacob Trouba having his name mentioned in trade rumors. None of it sat well with the veterans on the team.

The off-ice distractions really didn’t materialize until Drury sent out a memo that made both Trouba and Chris Kreider available last November. Growing impatient with how they were playing despite a good record up to that point thanks to the stellar play of Igor Shesterkin, Drury created a rift in the locker room that affected both Trouba and Kreider negatively. What followed was a 4-13 record the Rangers never recovered from.

One of the biggest problems was the inconsistency with the defensive system Housley was in charge of. Despite having some success with the man-to-man system in Year 1 under Laviolette, the Rangers struggled mightily defensively in Year 2, with all sorts of breakdowns in coverage that left opponents wide-open in the slot for goals and high danger scoring chances. They kept allowing the same thing to happen night after night, becoming like a broken record. Or in the Rangers’ case, a broken team thanks to management.

During a tumultuous season that saw them never put together another three-game winning streak since Nov. 14-19, several players voiced their displeasure with how things were handled by the coaching staff. After he was finally forced to accept a trade to Anaheim, Trouba called it, “A rite of passage to get fired by MSG.”

He admitted that all of the trade rumors last summer became a distraction that affected his play. Something he was upfront about with teammates entering the season. He became a lame duck captain thanks to Drury, who eventually got out of Trouba’s contract that still has a year remaining with a $8 million cap hit.

The next dissatisfied player was 2019 second pick Kaapo Kakko, who was made a healthy scratch for a game against the Blues on Dec. 15. He didn’t mince words by correctly pointing out that it was always a younger player on the roster who’s made the scapegoat. Having also been sat out by Laviolette for Game 6 versus Florida in the Eastern Conference Finals, he was fed up. Ironically, Kakko didn’t play in Game 6 versus Tampa Bay in the same round under former coach Gerard Gallant. The Rangers were eliminated in each instance. By sitting him over an underachieving veteran such as Mika Zibanejad, it was understandable why Kakko was upset.

After he was dealt to the Kraken, Kakko performed better while playing with Matty Beniers and Jaden Schwartz on the top line. Asked what the biggest differences were between the Rangers and the Kraken he said, “I feel confidence is the biggest thing since I got here. I feel like I got more ice time and they trust me here more… I feel our line did a pretty good job… I was making plays and maybe things I didn’t do before.”

Following a blowout loss to the Devils at home on Dec. 23, Zac Jones wasn’t in the lineup again until Feb. 5 against Boston. Having to sit out after having a different role in the top six was tough for him.

“It’s tough. It’s really [expletive] tough,” he told reporters. “I mean, I’m just generally a pretty easygoing, happy person. And no matter what is going on in my life, I’m gonna try and come to the rink with a smile on my face . . . But it [expletive] sucks. Like, there’s nothing else I can say about it.”

Jones went from playing with Braden Schneider and playing on the second power play unit to often becoming a healthy scratch due to the additions of Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen. He did play more down the stretch even after Adam Fox returned from an upper-body injury. Jones is a restricted free agent this summer. A scenery change would probably be best for him at this point.

Even Kreider had issues with how things were handled, which mostly had to do with the trade rumors. In an injury riddled season that limited his ability to be effective, he often didn’t speak to reporters following games. When asked about it by reporters, he took the high road before a game at Winnipeg.

“I’m not privy to that information,” Kreider told Mollie Walker of the NY Post. “I worry about what’s right in front of me and right now it’s Winnipeg. Happy to be here, enjoyed my time here and I’ll continue to try to help this team win hockey games.”

When Calvin de Haan called attention to his situation by speaking to reporters about how he’s been treated before taking a morning skate, it really was an indictment of the organization. After coming over with Jusso Parssinen from Colorado for Ryan Lindgren, de Haan partook in three games and played well to help the Rangers go 2-0-1 between Mar. 2-5. That was it for him. He never played again despite looking better than trade deadline pickup Carson Soucy. Another Drury brain cramp.

Most recently, following a bad loss, Fox seemed to question Housley’s defensive system. That was probably the final straw. Laviolette and Housley were attached. His coaching staff also included Michael Peca and Dan Muse. Both haven’t been let go by the organization. According to hockey insider Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet, each will have a chance to interview for the coaching vacancy.

Laviolette wasn’t the first coaching casualty of the day. The Ducks relieved Greg Cronin before Laviolette was let go. Regarding how things went down this season, it’s probably a relief for him. You could tell that it was wearing on him from the closeups on the bench and postgame interviews. How many times did he keep repeating the same things over and over again? The team quit on him. It wasn’t pleasant to watch.

Two years after Gallant was fired, Laviolette is now out of a job. In two seasons, he went 94-59-11 with a .607 winning percentage. A Stanley Cup winning coach with the Hurricanes in 2005-06, he’s guided three different teams to the Stanley Cup Finals. Unfortunately, he won’t get the chance to do it with the Rangers. For his career, Laviolette has 846 wins, which ranks seventh all-time. Among active coaches, he ranks third behind Lindy Ruff (900), and Paul Maurice (916).

It’s too early in the process to start guessing who the next coach of the Rangers should be. Whoever it is, it can’t continue to be every two years, they’re out. There’s something fundamentally wrong with the organization. They really need to take a closer look at themselves. This isn’t only about personnel. It’s about how they’ve been run. Why do other teams put younger players in a better position to succeed? That’s something that needs to change moving forward.

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Likely Final Game as A Ranger Leaves Mark for Kreider

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Derek

When the Rangers took on the Lightning on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden, a familiar face was back on the same line with his closest friend.

For nearly a decade, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad have been inseparable. Ever since former Rangers team president and general manager Jeff Gorton acquired Zibanejad from the Senators for Derick Brassard on July 18, 2016, he’s spent most of his time playing with Kreider.

Whether it was at even strength, on the power play or penalty kill, No. 20 and No. 93 formed a dynamic duo for the Blueshirts. As far back as eight years ago, Kreider set up Zibanejad in overtime to beat the Canadiens in Game 5 of the first round on Apr. 20, 2017. The Rangers closed out the series two days later to advance to the second round.

A lot has changed since then. The only constant has been Kreider and Zibanejad. There have been plenty of moments where they delivered in the clutch. However, Kreider’s been a Ranger longer than anyone on the current roster. Ever since he joined them fresh out of Boston College that spring in 2012, he’s scored plenty of goals at key moments. Long before Zibanejad formed their partnership, there was a 21-year-old Kreider scoring five times during the team’s run to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Following some struggles in 2012-13, Kreider went onto score 17 goals with 20 assists for 37 points as a rookie in 2013-14. He recorded his first career hat trick in a win over the Canucks on Nov. 30, 2013, which fittingly came against former coach John Tortorella. There would be bigger moments that season. He scored three goals and added five assists for eight points in the Rangers’ six-game series win over the Canadiens to reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Ultimately, they lost to the Kings.

Who could ever forget Kreider’s game-tying goal against the Caps in Game 5 of the second round in 2014-15? Staring at playoff extinction, Kreider took a drop pass from Derek Stepan and beat Braden Holtby to tie the game with 1:41 left in regulation. The Rangers came back and won in overtime on a goal from Ryan McDonagh. Buoyed by a pair of Kreider goals, they went into Washington and took Game 6. Stepan scored in overtime of Game 7 to send the Rangers back to the Conference Finals.

Following a first round loss to the Pens the following season, Zibanejad replaced Brassard. Ironically, it was Brassard’s team that eliminated the Rangers in the second round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s four goals in Game 5 for the Senators turned out to be the end for an old core that included Stepan, McDonagh, Dan Girardi, Henrik Lundqvist, Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello. J.T. Miller was part of that roster. By the midpoint of the next season, both he and McDonagh were gone.

The Letter

When the organization decided to trade McDonagh, that signaled a shift in philosophy. On Feb. 8, 2018, The Letter was released to the fanbase revealing that the Rangers would rebuild. At the time, McDonagh was the captain of the team. That all changed when he was traded with Miller to the Lightning on Feb. 26, 2018. Nash would also get rerouted to Boston in a deal that netted Ryan Lindgren. The following season, Zuccarello and Kevin Hayes were subtracted. Kevin Shattenkirk was bought out during the summer of 2019.

While they reconstructed the roster through trades and the draft, Lundqvist was near the conclusion of his career. When Igor Shesterkin signed and came over from the KHL in 2019-20, he played so well that the writing was on the wall in the Covid abbreviated season. Lundqvist played his final game in the Stanley Cup Qualifying Round. By that point, Rangers Team President John Davidson helped them sign Artemi Panarin. Gorton also traded for future captain Jacob Trouba and Adam Fox. Those were the big moves that transformed the team back into a contender.

Kreider and Zibanejad were there for all of it. That included no playoffs from 2018 thru 2021. The conclusion of the 2020-21 season was the tipping point. The lack of a response to Tom Wilson beating up Panarin convinced Garden CEO James Dolan to make sweeping changes in the organization. Head coach David Quinn was fired and both Davidson and Gorton lost their jobs. Chris Drury took over as both team president and general manager. Gerard Gallant took over behind the bench.

Kreider Has Career Season

In 2021-22, under the guidance of Gallant, the Rangers emerged as one of the league’s best teams. During that campaign, Kreider had a career season. He posted career highs in goals (52) and points (77) while breaking Jaromir Jagr’s franchise record for power-play goals in a single season with 26, which led the NHL. His 11 game-winners also paced the league. He also led the Blueshirts with three shorthanded goals.

That postseason, the Rangers came back from a 3-1 series deficit to beat the Penguins in the first round. In their 5-3 win in Game 6 that forced a deciding seventh game, both Kreider and Zibanejad scored a pair of goals, including one each on the power play. With the game still tied late in the third period, Kreider scored the deciding goal from Zibanejad. Andrew Copp added an empty netter. In Game 7, Panarin’s power-play goal in sudden death sent them to the second round. Zibanejad forced overtime by scoring with 5:45 left in regulation.

In a second round battle against the Hurricanes, the home team won the first six games of the series. In Game 7, Kreider led the way with two goals as the Rangers eliminated the Hurricanes 6-2. Zibanejad picked up three assists.

Facing the Lightning in the Conference Finals, the Rangers held serve by taking the first two games. However, the defending champs picked themselves up off the mat by scoring three straight goals, including Ondrej Palat’s winner at 19:18 of the third period to take Game 3. That was the turning point. After they evened the series, Palat broke Ranger hearts by scoring with 1:50 remaining in Game 5, which the Lightning took 3-1. Steven Stamkos’ series clincher came with over six minutes left in Game 6.

Despite both Kreider and Zibanejad tying for the team lead in goals (10), the Rangers didn’t get the chance to play for the Stanley Cup. Kreider finished with 16 points during the run, which was the best of his postseason career. Zibanejad paced them with 24 points.

Laviolette Replaces Gallant with Early Success

Following a disappointing first round exit to the Devils a year later, several players voiced their displeasure with Gallant, leading to his dismissal. Peter Laviolette replaced Gallant behind the Rangers bench. A proven winner, he had some early success last season.

Under Laviolette, the Rangers finished with the league’s best record to win the Presidents’ Trophy – setting franchise marks in both wins (55) and points (114). Kreider put together another productive season by notching 39 goals and tallying a career-high 36 assists for 75 points. His seven game-winners and 18 power-play goals led the team.

Panarin exploded with his best season – finishing with career bests in goals (49), assists (71), and points (120). The biggest difference was that both Alexis Lafreniere and Vincent Trocheck produced like stars to form a potent top line. The Rangers were able to lean heavily on strong special teams, with the third ranked power play carrying them.

Even though Zibanejad and Kreider started to show signs of slowing down at five-on-five, the Rangers made it all the way to the Conference Finals for the second time in three years.

Kreider’s Natural Hat Trick Propels Blueshirts

After jumping out to a 3-0 series lead against the Hurricanes in the second round, the Rangers had trouble finishing them off. After the Hurricanes eeked out a one-goal win to take Game 4, they erupted for four goals in the third period to take Game 5. Clearly with the momentum, the unthinkable started to look possible.

When the Canes got the first two goals of Game 6, it really felt like they’d have a shot at making history. Even when Trocheck cut the deficit in half, Sebastian Aho answered to restore a two-goal lead headed to the third period.

At that critical point, the Rangers had been severely outplayed. It was the goaltending of Shesterkin that gave them a chance at a comeback. When they got back into the locker room, a confident Kreider felt that he had some goals in his stick. That turned out to be prophetic.

With things looking bleak, Kreider went out and led by example when his team needed it most. On a play in transition, Zibanejad wisely threw the puck into Frederik Andersen’s pads from behind the net. Before he could freeze it, Kreider was able to get a backhand that squeezed through Andersen to cut it to 3-2.

Still trailing by one, the Rangers needed something on the power play, which had cooled off considerably. Shut down by the Canes since Game 2, a familiar hero emerged. On some excellent puck movement, Panarin fired a shot pass that Kreider tipped in to tie the score with 8:06 remaining. He’s always been a master at getting his stick on shots and deflecting it home. He’s made a career out of it.

With the crowd still buzzing due to the Ranger fans who attended, Kreider wasn’t done. On a play started by Jack Roslovic, he moved the puck for Lindgren who went around the net and sent a perfect pass in front for Kreider to put home to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead with 4:19 left in regulation. Kreider’s natural hat trick propelled the Blueshirts to the Eastern Conference Finals.

An empty netter from Barclay Goodrow sealed a dramatic come from behind 5-3 win to take Game 6 and eliminate the Canes.

Clawed By the Cats

In the Conference Finals, the Rangers responded to a Game 1 loss by taking the next two games in overtime. But unlike the script for Games 2 and 3, the Panthers turned the tables by taking Game 4 in sudden death.

A fantastic effort from Kreider turned in a shorthanded goal that put the Rangers in front early in Game 5. His partner in crime, Zibanejad picked up the only assist. It was a sweet finish from Kreider, who became a weapon on the penalty kill.

However, three consecutive goals from the Panthers put them in the driver’s seat. Following a Sam Bennett empty netter, Kreider and Zibanejad combined to set up Lafreniere for a goal that cut it to one with 50 seconds remaining. They weren’t able to force overtime.

Goals from Bennett and Vladimir Tarasenko proved to be too much along with the stingy Panthers defense. Had it not been for the brilliance of Shesterkin, the Rangers would have gone down easier. With him on the bench, Panarin got his first of the series to cut it to 2-1 with 1:40 remaining. That was as close as they came.

When the series was over, the trio of Kreider, Zibanejad, and Panarin came under criticism for not being able to score in the series. Kreider was held to a goal and assist. Zibanejad was held without a goal and two assists. Panarin was limited to a goal and three assists. The Rangers’ best forwards were Trocheck, Lafreniere, and Goodrow.

Ultimately, the Rangers were clawed by the Cats. They were the better team and proved it by dominating most of the play. The Panthers went on to win their first Stanley Cup.

Drury’s Memo Ruins Season

As has been well documented in many posts in this space, and from excellent reporters who cover the team, such as Mollie Walker of the NY Post and Vince Mercogliano of USA Today Sports, Drury has been responsible for most of the Rangers’ demise.

While the way he got rid of Goodrow, who was popular in the room, didn’t sit well with teammates, it was the way he handled both Trouba and Kreider that really destroyed the team. After an unsuccessful attempt to trade Trouba last summer, an impatient Drury sent out a memo to 31 teams that made both the Rangers captain and Kreider available. Something that should’ve been handled internally became public, fracturing the locker room.

Following a 12-4-1 start, the Rangers were never the same. They went 4-13 following the ill-fated memo. Drury’s memo ruined the season.

Not only did it hurt two locker room leaders who were a big part of two successful seasons, but it really messed up the chemistry. Say what you want about how both Kreider and Trouba performed. From a psychological standpoint, it had to be weighing on their minds. The team broke down and never recovered.

A long winter followed in a season of discontent. How bad was it for Kreider? He stopped making himself available following games in the locker room. Similar to Trouba, who eventually accepted a trade to Anaheim, he looked disinterested at times. Aside from the unnecessary off ice distraction, an achy back caused him to miss some games. Even when he returned, you never got the sense that he was ever fully healthy.

Perhaps that helps explain why Kreider accepted Laviolette’s demotion to the fourth line. Combined with the reacquisition of Miller, he lost his spot on the top power play unit. By that point, the once vaunted power play sunk faster the Titanic. The Rangers went from third in 2023-24 to 28th in 2024-25. Nothing worked. They also became so bad that during one critical stretch, they gave up more shorthanded goals than scoring on the power play. It became a disadvantage by the end of season.

Kreider Ties Camille Henry

Entering the season, it looked like a certainty that Kreider would pass Camille Henry for the most power-play goals in franchise history. Before the new calendar year, he scored the 115th PPG of his career versus the Panthers on Dec. 30.

It took Kreider almost two months to tie Henry. On Feb. 22, he scored his sixth power-play goal of the season in the second period versus the Sabres. Unfortunately, the Rangers were blown out 8-2 in Buffalo. Ironically, Zibanejad also scored in the same game. Despite tying Henry for the most power-play goals (116) in Rangers history, an injury cost Kreider the next seven games.

When he returned following the trade deadline, he was never the same. Whatever ailed him affected his play. He went long stretches without scoring. Eventually, he saw his ice time cut at even strength. He wasn’t featured as much on the power play. That more than anything is why Kreider never set a new franchise record.

Going Out the Right Way

Even though his role diminished, Laviolette made sure that Kreider would take one more regular shift with Zibanejad in the Rangers’ final game of the season. Two days after recording two assists for the only time in 2024-25, he went out the right way.

With the Rangers facing the Lightning on Apr. 17, they led 1-0 on a Trocheck shorthanded goal through two periods. Just over four minutes into the third period, a Zibanejad pass came to Kreider, who had his first attempt come back to him. The second one was a rocket that hit inside the goal and came out quickly. There was a bit of confusion from both refs. However, they correctly blew the whistle to review the play.

Even legendary Rangers announcer Sam Rosen hesitated when calling Kreider’s shot a goal. Of course, the video review confirmed that Kreider had scored the 326th goal of his career. All have come as a New York Ranger. If it was his final game as a Blueshirt, he finished in style by also setting up Zibanejad for his 20th goal.

When he got back to the bench, Kreider sat there very quietly next to his teammates. He hasn’t shown much emotion this season. After he scored his 22nd of the season, Will Cuylle grabbed the puck for him. One of the few bright spots in a lost season, Cuylle registered the first 20-goal season of his young career. A gritty player who also doubles on the penalty kill, Cuylle could become a possible replacement for Kreider. He picked up an assist on the goal.

Following the game, all the players stayed out for Blueshirts off their backs to lucky fans on the Garden ice. That included Kreider, who spent a lot of time out there before exiting. The game’s third star was well received by the appreciative fans who attended. He’s meant a lot to the team for over a decade. He has been part of five teams that reached the Final Four. That included the Stanley Cup Finals in 2014.

The franchise’s third all-time goal scorer is probably going to move on in the off-season. With two years remaining on a contract with a fair $6.5 million cap hit, Kreider has a partial no-trade clause. He will celebrate his 34th birthday on April 30. By the summer, he could have a new team.

Where Kreider Ranks

If it is over for him in the Big Apple, Kreider ranks third on the all-time Rangers franchise list in goals with 326 – trailing Hall of Famers Jean Ratelle (336) and Rod Gilbert (406). Here’s where he ranks in other categories.

Games Played 883 (8th)

Points 582 (10th)

Plus/Minus 121 (6th)

Even Strength Goals 197 (4th)

Shorthanded Goals 13 (4th)

Game-Winning Goals 50 (2nd)

Shots 2160 (5th)

Hat Tricks 7* (Tied for 2nd)

*Including playoffs

Whatever the future holds, Kreider has always been a good Ranger. He’s carried himself well on and off the ice. It might be over for him in New York City. But he deserves to be recognized when he returns. Even if his number isn’t retired by the franchise, expect the Rangers to pay tribute to Kreider in the future.

No. 20 will always hold a special place in this fan’s heart. Good luck, Kreids!

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Finally, the Rangers’ season is over

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Derek

This team was very hard to write about. As difficult as they were to watch, I found it much more challenging to put my thoughts together.

The 2024-25 New York Rangers will go down as one of the biggest failures in franchise history. From the GM and coach down to the players, everyone is to blame for this mess. Mess is the operative word when it comes to describing the Rangers, who went from one of the league’s best teams to one of the most dysfunctional.

From the very beginning last summer, Chris Drury drove a stake through the heart of a team that advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after winning the Presidents’ Trophy. He unceremoniously dumped Barclay Goodrow in a prearranged waiver deal with buddy Mike Grier to the Sharks, who were on his 16-team no-trade list. That move left a bitter taste during the summer.

Then, came the leak of trying to force captain Jacob Trouba to accept a trade to the Red Wings. He wasn’t willing to go, making the situation untenable during the first part of the season.

Despite having a good record, the Rangers weren’t playing well defensively. They relied mostly on Igor Shesterkin to carry them to victories. He and Jonathan Quick provided the big saves early. Eventually, they fell victim to all the defensive breakdowns in coverage.

There was the ill-fated memo to the rest of the league that made it public that both Trouba and Chris Kreider were available. That was a public relations disaster that only further divided the locker room. Eventually, Drury forced Trouba to accept a trade to Anaheim by threatening to put him on waivers. It really was a cold way to do business and treat a well-respected locker room leader. Drury didn’t care enough about how bad the optics were.

While Kreider was dealing with a back injury, he clearly wasn’t the same player. There’s no question that memo really affected his play. The longest tenured Blueshirt was treated like crap. Considering how he was used down the stretch by Peter Laviolette, it was almost as if they were deliberately trying to sabotage the third highest goal scorer in franchise history.

After becoming a healthy scratch for a game, Kaapo Kakko lashed out at Laviolette through the media by accurately pointing out that it’s always a young player who is used as the scapegoat. He signed his walking papers. Kakko was dealt to Seattle for Will Borgen and picks. He played more freely with the Kraken finishing with 10 goals and 20 assists for 30 points in 49 games.

Although Borgen came over and formed a solid partnership with K’Andre Miller, his game fell off after signing a five-year contract extension. Speaking of which, maybe Drury shouldn’t hand out extensions. Alexis Lafreniere all but disappeared after getting one for the next season. He was so unproductive and at times looked completely checked out. It was a lost season for the failed 2020 top pick.

Drury also made Shesterkin the league’s highest paid goalie. Starting next season, he’ll have a cap hit of $11.5 million. While the consensus is that he’s a top three goalie, his play has become inconsistent. He doesn’t always make the stops you come to expect. Part of the reason is that assistant Phil Housley’s defensive system fell apart in Laviolette’s second year. There were so many blown assignments, with even Adam Fox starting to question the system. Laviolette never considered adjusting from man-to-man to zone to help the team.

There were so many bad losses that it became hard to keep track. When they got blown out by the Sabres on home ice, that was a sign of things to come. There was the awful defense in a high scoring loss to the Kraken. Checking was optional. The Devils’ humiliation before Christmas. Losing to the Blackhawks at MSG was also mind-numbing. They even were shut out by the lowly Predators.

I could easily list more brutal defeats in the second half, with quite a few blown third period leads. Those were the valuable points they left on the table that cost them the playoffs. The ironic part is that I concluded they weren’t making it as far back as the first week of December. The chemistry had fallen apart, and the team structure was nowhere to be found. Players clearly tuned out Laviolette, who kept making changes to the lineup, which led to no cohesion. It was the complete opposite of last year.

Few players performed up to expectations. Mika Zibanejad struggled to score goals and fell off dramatically defensively. Vincent Trocheck wasn’t as consistent despite playing mostly with Artemi Panarin, and Lafreniere’s season long slump eventually led to him being taken off the scoring line. When they were together, they were getting scored on frequently. The magic from 2023-24 wasn’t there.

Zibanejad and Kreider struggled mightily at five-on-five. Kreider hardly produced with his play tailing off. He still wound up tying Camille Henry for the most power-play goals in franchise history. But he was eventually removed from the top unit. Something nobody could’ve ever predicted. Kreider also scored four times shorthanded to give him 13 for his career. Even in a down year that saw him wind up with 22 goals and only eight assists, he ranked third on the team in goals and power-play goals, and his six game-winners ranked second behind Trocheck.

If last night was the end of his career as a Ranger, Kreider made sure to go out the right way by scoring his 326th goal and assisting on a Zibanejad tally in a 4-0 win over the Lightning. Most notably, they won in Sam Rosen’s final game of his brilliant career calling Rangers games. It was nice to see Kreider and Zibanejad combine for one more goal. Zibanejad scored twice to reach 20 goals for the season.

J.T. Miller was a positive after coming over from Vancouver for Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, and a top 13 protected first round pick in either 2025 or 2026. He averaged over a point-per-game after Drury acquired him from the Canucks. Miller was the driving force behind an abbreviated Rangers revival that even saw them get back into the wild card. However, it was short-lived due to the team’s inconsistency. They never won three in a row after Nov. 14-19. Even Miller couldn’t save the season.

If there was a move that never worked out, it was the trade for Carson Soucy. Once he arrived, that spelled the end for Calvin de Haan, who in a brief cameo looked good with Zac Jones. The team went 2-0-1 before de Haan came out of the lineup for good. It was a puzzling decision that never made sense. Eventually, de Haan voiced his displeasure to reporters who cover the team. He showed plenty of class by getting out in front of it on Twitter/X. Most fans were in agreement with de Haan about how he was handled. It never was fair.

Jones also went public in February after falling out of favor. He was out of the lineup for an extended period. You could understand the frustration. He probably thought he’d be a regular in the lineup for most of the season. That’s not how it played out. Instead, Urho Vaakanainen replaced him and was mostly used with Braden Schneider. Vaakanainen contributed offensively but had issues defensively. He’s signed for another year. Jones is a restricted free agent. It doesn’t look like he’s in their plans.

Aside from all of the distractions, there was Laviolette’s reluctance to play Gabriel Perreault after he signed his entry-level contract. With the Rangers playing out the string, there was no reason he shouldn’t have played more. It didn’t make sense to sit both Perreault and Brennan Othmann for three games in the hope of some miracle. It was an insult to the fans. Laviolette went down by sticking to his mantra that got him fired in Washington. He favored veterans over kids. Clearly, that philosophy needs to change for the organization moving forward.

At the very least, they sent Rosen out the right way. He deserved all the attention he received. That included Zibanejad gifting him the stick from the five-goal game he scored against the Caps on Mar. 5, 2020. It was a memorable night that still ranks as my favorite moment from all the regular seaaon games I’ve attended. Maybe it was fate that he did it against Alex Ovechkin, who became the greatest goal scorer in NHL history. It was a great game.

There’s so much more to say about Rosen, who was selected as the game’s first star last night. He got a standing ovation during a TV timeout with his partner Joe Micheletti, leading the applause up in the booth. Rosen passed the baton to Kenny Albert, who deservedly will take over. He’s been calling games on the radio for three decades. He’s the perfect replacement. Albert also serves as the lead broadcaster for the NHL on TNT. They have the Stanley Cup Finals this year.

There’s so much more to say. I deliberately left out the Panarin nonsense because it doesn’t belong in this post. That’ll be addressed separately. I also will have more on Kreider, who clearly is going to be gone. What a mess.

It’s going to be a long off-season.

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Devils begin postseason this weekend with a cloud of uncertainty

Posted on April 17, 2025 by hasan4978

In my recap of Devils-Canes playoff history I pretty well glossed over the most recent of the series, and the only one where a majority of the players were involved with – the second-round matchup two years ago. With good reason obviously since the Devils quickly and quietly got drubbed in five games. That’s the only way you can really describe a series where you lose three blowouts and were never realistically in the series apart from winning Game 3 to give themselves a chance to even the series at home, but a 6-1 pasting was unfortunately the last time they were on home ice in one of the most successful regular seasons in franchise history.

I’m not going to say 2022-23 was the most successful regular season even though they set records for wins and points – in part because they didn’t win a division, plus the 3-on-3 OT and shootout wasn’t a thing in 2001 when the most talented Devils team of all time had a 111-point season, one shy of the total two years ago. Of course a lot of time has passed since then, for both teams. Our future doesn’t look quite as rosy as it did in the wake of that series defeat, even if they seemingly have better talent at key positions. But I’ll get to the team inquest when and if they have the quick playoff exit I fear. For now I guess we’ll just look at this year’s matchup.

As much as I’ve complained about the Devils struggles it’s not like the Hurricanes are hot going into the playoffs either, finishing the season at 1-5-1 in their last seven games. Of course most of those losses came when their playoff seeding went from highly likely to mortal lock so I don’t really take that with the same meaning as I do the Devils going 17-19-4 over a forty game stretch (which doesn’t even include the 1-3 to end the season once the Devils were also locked into the third seed). We haven’t had longer than a three game winning streak this season, to be honest it’s kind of amazing the Devils were largely not threatened in terms of making the playoffs from about November on despite that long stretch of mediocrity.

Still, I don’t want to hear the complaining from certain fanbases and media markets such as ‘oh, what a shame Calgary missed the playoffs with 94 points while we had an automatic division berth with 91, the worst point total of any playoff team’…well yeah of course the West playoff teams are going to have higher point totals – all the truly dross teams are in the West! San Jose (52 points), Chicago (61) and even Nashville (68) all had significantly worse point totals than the East’s worst teams with the Bruins and Flyers both on 76 points. The fact the worst team in the East has 76 points is itself an indicator of parity – not to mention the OT and SO loser points goosing the total a bit. You play an 82 game season to determine the best team over seven months, as much as I’ve complained about the second half of the year, the first half counts too, at least going into the playoffs.

As I’m typing, the first round schedule has come out so might as well post that here…an Easter Sunday afternoon start isn’t exactly ideal but I guess this is one time I’m glad a series is starting on the road, hah

Of course, starting in Carolina isn’t exactly ideal for the team itself given our sordid playoff history down in Raleigh but I’ve already gone over that in a previous blog. It’s kind of hard to get a true read on either team this year given the major changes that have happened over the last few months, us due to injury and them due to the Mikko Rantanen trade(s). One playoff story that’s been undersold – at least till this point – is the fact we have at least three former Canes on the roster now including Erik Haula, and more recently Stefan Noesen and Brett Pesce, both of whom were on the 2023 team that beat us up in the second round. I guess it can’t hurt having so many players who’ve been a part of that team and that system when you’re trying to play a seven-game series with them.

Conversely the most famous ex-Devil who’s in Carolina now is a more distant figure of the past in Taylor Hall. While he’s 33 years old now and certainly not as dynamic or effective as he was during his 2017-18 MVP season with us, you know he’ll want to turn back the clock and impress, just like our former Canes will try to do the same. I doubt any of those players wind up deciding the series in the end, but in a two week span, anything can happen after all.

What’s more likely to decide the series is goaltending. All year long I erroneously have heard that ‘at least the Devils will have the advantage in net’ when fans were looking ahead to the Carolina matchup…but will we really? With Freddie Anderson back healthy for Carolina, they’ve stabilized in net – even after struggling in his last three games (all dead rubbers) his GAA is a more than respectable 2.29 with a .907 save percentage in 21 starts. His issue is generally health rather than talent, as evidenced by the fact he’s played in just 72 games over the last three seasons. Of course, we’ve seen how good a healthy Andersen can be two years ago in the playoffs.

After it seemed like Jacob Markstrom had found his game a couple weeks ago, he lost it again with a horrible performance against Boston just before we’d officially clinched a playoff spot. At least his last game before the playoffs was a 1-0 loss – but being that was a dead rubber game I didn’t watch, so I can only assume he played well enough by the scoreline. Wisely, the Devils rested the 35-year old Markstrom (and his still questionable lower body injury) in the last two games before the postseason…but given that the playoffs start on Sunday hopefully a week off won’t be too much rust. While 1B goalie Jake Allen has played better than Markstrom for much of the season, he struggled a bit down the stretch. I still think he gets the call if Markstrom struggles early much like Akira Schmid two years ago, but it’s more likely than not that the series comes down to one of the two 35-year old starters in net.

Defensively the edge is pretty close to even, at least in terms of defending with the Devils having allowed 222 goals this season and Carolina 226 (with one game to play), and those totals are with Carolina playing the shaky Pyotr Kochetkov in net for 47 games. Where Carolina’s defenders have the edge is in helping the offense and the transition game. For us, Luke Hughes and Dougie Hamilton both have 40+ points despite missing double digit games, but nobody else on the blueline has more than 22…and Brian Dumoulin had most of those in Anaheim. While Carolina only had one 40-point scorer on D in Shayne Gostisbehere, they also have three other blueliners in the high 20’s. While the additions of guys like Pesce and Brendan Dillon have certainly improved our defending, our transition game has suffered a bit going older and slower on the blueline. Against a quick, counterattacking team like Carolina hopefully it won’t come back to bite us.

Up front, the story will be about who’s not there for both teams. In Carolina’s case, they likely aren’t as explosive now after initially trading Martin Necas in a deal for Mikko Rantanen, then after it became obvious Rantanen wouldn’t resign there, flipping him off for futures at the deadline. While the latter deal improved the team chemistry seemingly (and gave them back forwards Hall and young Logan Stankoven), you’d still like to have either of the first-line forwards in a playoff situation.

Still, Carolina scored nineteen more goals than we’ve had this season with one game still left to play for them and if they’re missing a top line forward from Opening Night, then so are we with Jack. Top-line production is pretty thin on both sides with them having two players above sixty points (Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis), then a big dropoff to the #3 scorer Andrei Svechnikov with 46 points. We have Bratt with 88 points, Nico with 70 and Timo Meier with 53, including 26 goals so maybe we have slightly more top line production on paper but those guys have to play like it in the playoffs, unlike two years ago when none really did in spite of our series win against the Rangers.

After Timo, the scoring drops off pretty quickly with Noesen’s 41 points being good enough for third among active forwards, just ahead of the disappointing Dawson Mercer with 36. Big-game performer Ondrej Palat only had 28 points despite playing a lot of top six minutes this season, can we really count on him or Noesen to lead the way? As much as I think both can contribute, we’re gonna need the big guns to score big goals at some point. Obviously the same is true for Carolina, but given their playoff history and the fact their offense has been slightly better than ours, you still have to give them the edge up front until the big guns show up in big games.

Special teams might be the one clear edge I can see, at least the power play which was third in the NHL with a 28.2 conversion percentage compared to Carolina’s 26th rated power play at 18.5 percent. On the PK, both teams rank 1 and 2 respectively so you’d hope ours would be able to shut down their power play for the most part. If that doesn’t happen, or if their PK finds a way to shut us down then it could be problematic. I can’t give us a coaching edge either, as much as I like Sheldon Keefe at best it’s a wash between him and Rod Brind’Amour, who almost always gets the most out of his team when the chips are down while Keefe really hasn’t in the second half of this season.

Basically doing this preview pretty much confirmed my initial bias to begin with, or doomerism as an apologist fan might view it. I can’t see a clear edge for us apart from comparing power plays, and certainly historically we haven’t matched up well with this team. Despite Carolina’s bad form once they clinched, we’ve had longer mired in mediocrity since the new year. I’d love to be wrong but in spite of Carolina not looking quite the same themselves as they have been the last couple years, this series screams five games at best, basically a rerun of 2023 only likely without as many goals given up and closer games. Win one of the first two and it can be a long series. If that doesn’t happen then you’re likely looking at a rerun of 2018 against Tampa, or 2023’s Carolina series where we’re playing not to be swept as opposed to playing to win.

It’s now show-me time for a lot of these players after a disappointing 1.5 seasons following the 2023 playoffs, show me why I should believe again in you guys. I don’t want to hear about Jack being out, or even the refs not calling stuff…it’s time to find a way to beat this team. Especially with them being a clear favorite for once in a matchup with us. And while they do have an edge or are even with us in almost every area, it’s not by a wide enough margin where great individual performances (or slumps) can’t stem the tide. But for that to happen, this team needs to show the spirit and fire they’ve largely lacked over the last two seasons.

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De Haan Voices His Displeasure, Robertson to debut for Rangers

Posted on April 14, 2025 by Derek

There are two games left in the Rangers season. With that in mind, Peter Laviolette announced that Matthew Robertson will make his NHL debut when the Rangers take on the Panthers in the sunshine state on Monday.

A 2019 second round pick, Robertson is in his fourth pro season with the Hartford Wolf Pack. In 60 games, he has a goal and 24 assists for 25 points with 55 penalty minutes and a minus-5 rating. His 24 assists and 25 points pace all Wolf Pack defensemen. He’s been recalled before but never gotten into a game for the Rangers. That’ll finally change later tonight.

Braden Schneider won’t play in the final two games. He’s been playing through an upper-body injury this season. That might explain some of the inconsistency he had in his fourth season. He still established new career bests in goals (6), assists (15), and points (21) while finishing with a plus-9 rating on a bad team. According to Rangers beat writer Mollie Walker of the NY Post, he should be ready for the start of next season.

De Haan Vents Frustration to Reporters

Speaking of Walker, she’s been quite busy the past 24 hours. She broke the story on Sunday that Calvin de Haan wasn’t happy with how he’s been treated by the Rangers. A well-respected veteran defenseman, the 33-year-old de Haan approached beat writers before yesterday’s practice and vented some frustration over how he’s been handled.

Since playing in three games, which the Rangers went 2-0-1 in, he hasn’t played in another one. That included consecutive 4-0 shutouts over the Predators and Islanders on Mar. 2-3. The Rangers lost 3-2 to the Caps at home in overtime on Mar. 5. It never made any sense why de Haan came out of the lineup. He was much better than Carson Soucy, who hasn’t distinguished himself since Chris Drury acquired him at the trade deadline. I never understood the rationale behind the move. It felt like overkill for a player who’s in decline.

To his credit, de Haan got out in front of it. After being asked by the Rangers PR not to talk about it, he decided that he’d wait until the season concluded. However, he made a well thought out post on Twitter/X expressing how he felt about the situation. It was very classy.

“I was hoping that I would have been able to express in a scrum setting versus a quote as I was going onto the ice and having it on the Internet 30 seconds later. I said what I said because I am frustrated , and any competitor who says that they would be happy in this position would be lying to you. After playing 3 games for the team and going 2-0-1 , I thought I maybe would have got an opportunity to jump into the lineup and help win some games.

Did I help win those games I played, maybe? Maybe not? But we still won and collected some crucial points to climb the standings. I understand the youth movement in the nhl, and I’m getting older in hockey years and I may not play every single night. I feel like I can still contribute and help teams win. I know I’m not going to play 20 minutes a night in the role I’ve been in the past few years , but again I feel like I can still keep up and help a team in certain facets of the game.

I’m not trying to be the villain or gain attention or throw shade on the organization , I would have preferred a scrum setting to chat about how my time with the rangers has gone. As a player you have to respect the lineup decisions whether you like them or not, it’s just been frustrating not being able to compete and do what I love to do. I hope everyone understands.”

What de Haan said is exactly how most of us have felt watching this team. Many fans have questioned why he remained out of the lineup. It has been a very frustrating and long year.

Things have been so badly handled by Drury and the organization. It’s almost as if they are oblivious to how things look. De Haan became the sixth player to voice his displeasure. You could go all the way back to Barclay Goodrow last summer in that ridiculous waiver deal Drury set up with Mike Grier to send him to San Jose, who was on his 16-team no-trade list.

That set the wheels in motion for the toxic environment at MSG. Jacob Trouba had to have his name muddied due to both the leak to NY Post columnist Larry Brooks and then the mistimed league memo that made both him and Chris Kreider available. There was Kaapo Kakko showing his frustration over coming out of the lineup. He was justified in pointing out that it’s always a younger roster player over a veteran. Zac Jones then spoke out about not being used. Now, de Haan came clean.

How many players feel this way about the organization? It’s become a serious issue. Is it as simple as James Dolan is back in control of the operation? Since Glen Sather retired, things have taken a turn for the worse. The Rangers have gone from one of the most respected teams to a circus very quickly.

I’m sure more will come out after they play their final game.

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Rangers’ Season Finally Goes Up in Flames

Posted on April 13, 2025 by Derek

It’s finally over.

The Rangers were officially eliminated from the playoffs in a 7-3 loss to the Hurricanes in Raleigh yesterday. Now, a long off-season that promises to be filled with changes awaits.

For months, it was painfully obvious that they weren’t a playoff team. There were too many issues that boiled to the surface to ruin the season. Somehow, they became unwatchable a year removed from having the league’s best record and reaching the Eastern Conference Finals.

In doing so, the Rangers became only the fourth team to go from winning the Presidents’ Trophy to missing the postseason the next season. They joined the 1992-93 New York Rangers, 2007-08 Buffalo Sabres, and 2014-15 Boston Bruins to make the wrong kind of history.

Considering how awful they were since late November, it’s a relief that there won’t be any more games after this Thursday. Fans who supported the team were sick of watching them. They became my least favorite team. Even the teams from the Dark Ages (1997-98 – 2003-04) were more interesting to watch. As bad as that era was, they didn’t look disinterested. This team looked like it couldn’t wait for the season to end.

The saddest part is that there are two games left for Sam Rosen to call. As much as he hoped he could drag them to the playoffs, they embarrassed the jersey instead.

Where did it all go wrong? Was it the way Chris Drury handled Barclay Goodrow and Jacob Trouba last summer? After Goodrow was unceremoniously dumped in a waiver move to the Sharks, who were on his no-trade list, Drury failed to trade Trouba to the Red Wings.

Perhaps it was when Drury sent a memo out to the rest of the league that both Trouba and Chris Kreider were available. What followed was a futile 4-15 stretch that they never recovered from. There were so many bad losses. They looked like they didn’t care. By the end of 2024, Trouba was gone. He accepted a deal to Anaheim on Dec. 6. On a conference call, he admitted that the way the off-season was handled became a distraction.

There was also the way Kaapo Kakko was handled by Peter Laviolette. After a good start, he saw his role decrease. When he was made a healthy scratch, Kakko voiced his displeasure. That led to him being traded to Seattle on Dec. 18.

When Zac Jones hardly played for nearly six weeks, he went public as well. A restricted free agent with arbitration rights after the season, his days are numbered. He probably can’t wait to find a new team.

Even the way Gabriel Perreault and Brennan Othmann have been handled hasn’t made sense. Since signing his entry-level contract, Perreault has only played three games. At least he will get into the final two. Othmann has shown some capability. But he still hasn’t scored a goal. Why is it so hard for the Rangers to play their first round picks consistent minutes? All of this needs to change next season.

For Chris Kreider, he might have played his last game as a Ranger. He hasn’t looked right most of the season. He missed some time due to two different injuries. He went from scoring 39 goals and recording a career best 36 assists last season to having 21 goals and just five assists in 66 games this season. For a while, he’s had his ice time reduced while playing with Sam Carrick and Matt Rempe on the fourth line. Kreider has still been featured on the power play and penalty kill. With nothing left to play for, he could sit out the final two remaining games.

Is there any reason for Adam Fox to play? Ever since he absorbed a knee on knee hit from Sebastian Aho last year, he hasn’t been the same player. Ironically enough, he took another one from current teammate Nicholas Aube-Kubel in the first round against the Caps. Fox has still paced all Rangers defensemen in scoring with 61 points (10-51-61). But he looks compromised. He probably needs to have surgery.

Mika Zibanejad has played in every game. Despite struggling to score goals and rapidly declining defensively, he’s never been made an example of. It isn’t about questioning his effort. However, why has he escaped any discipline? What’s become clear is that he’s more effective playing the right side over playing center. Either way, he’s overpaid. What does the future hold for a player with a full no-movement clause? Would he be willing to waive it for a fresh start elsewhere? Or are they stuck with him?

On Saturday, the Rangers lost 7-3 to the Hurricanes who swept the season series by outscoring them 18-7. In a way, they got a measure of revenge for getting eliminated in the second round. They’ll take on the Devils in the first round while the Rangers book tee times.

After starting out by testing Pyotr Kochetkov with some good shots, the Rangers fell apart again. Once Jalen Chatfield got the Hurricanes on the board with a shot from long distance, the Rangers were dominated for the remainder of the first period.

With Vincent Trocheck in pain during a defensive shift, Sebastian Aho took advantage by finding Seth Jarvis alone in front to make it 2-0. Both Braden Schneider and Urho Vaakanainen chased Aho behind the net, which allowed Jarvis to easily score his 32nd with 2:14 remaining.

Aho forced a turnover that led to the Canes’ third goal just over two minutes into the second period. He took the puck away from K’Andre Miller to keep a forecheck alive. Eventually, Jackson Blake had his centering pass bank off Jarvis right to him for his 17th. On the play, Zibanejad got caught napping when Blake came around the net and put in the loose puck to make it 3-0.

After Artemi Panarin came close to cutting the deficit to two, with his shot hitting the crossbar, another strong shift from the Hurricanes resulted in Mark Jankowski putting them ahead 4-0. The Canes’ fourth line cycled the puck down low. Tyson Jost worked the puck to William Carrier, who then centered it for an easy Jankowski finish. Sam Carrick got caught out of position on the goal.

If there was a bright spot on a forgettable day, Will Cuylle got his 20th with 15.5 seconds left in the period. On a play created by J.T. Miller, Cuylle picked up a loose puck at the blue line and beat Kochetkov with a low shot from the left circle to make it 4-1 headed to the locker room.

A great solo effort from Jordan Staal restored the four-goal led for the Hurricanes less than four minutes into the third period. Following a takeaway inside his own blue line, Staal blew past Schneider and then beat Shesterkin upstairs to make it 5-1. Schneider took the wrong angle and was beaten badly by Staal, who got his 13th unassisted. Shesterkin didn’t play the shot well. He crouched down and bit on the fake leaving the top of the net open for Staal to pick.

It felt like the game was over. But a Miller power-play goal cut it to 5-2. Following a faceoff win, Trocheck made a nice one touch pass for Miller to blast past Kochetkov for his 21st. It was his 12th goal since coming over from Vancouver. In 30 games, he has 32 points.

Less than three minutes later, Fox took a nice Panarin feed down low and scored his 10th on a backhand to suddenly cut it to 5-3 with 10:58 remaining. It was a brilliant pass from Panarin, who is one point shy of reaching 90 points for the fourth consecutive year. Since joining the Rangers, he’s posted four seasons of 90 points or more. The only season he didn’t do it in was the Covid abbreviated one in 2020-21 when he recorded 58 points in 42 games.

Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour made a puzzling decision to challenge the goal for goaltender interference. On the goal, Trocheck’s skates came together with Sean Walker who bumped into Kochetkov. Replays on ABC showed that it was incidental and wasn’t goaltender interference. The amount of time Brind’Amour took before challenging was too long. The league needs to reevaluate how long coaches should have to challenge a call. There should be a 90-second window.

Despite getting a power play out of it, the Rangers were unable to capitalize. That was their last gasp.

Laviolette made the curious decision to pull Shesterkin early. Despite his team continuing to attack the Hurricanes and get chances, he went for a six-on-five with over three and a half minutes remaining. Ryan Callahan was proven correct in his assertion that he wouldn’t have lifted Shesterkin so early.

A Fox pass to Kreider saw Staal aggressively force Kreider into a turnover in the neutral zone. The puck went right to Jordan Martinook who hit the empty net to make it 6-3 with 3:33 remaining. A frustrated Fox slammed the puck into the boards. Logan Stankoven added another empty netter.

The season was over. The look on his face summed it up. It’s been that kind of year. The most disappointing since 1992-93. Save the comparisons. That team didn’t need to make many changes to the roster. They had a captain. Listening to Mark Messier on an intermission segment criticize the Rangers spoke volumes. They don’t have a captain. Who is their leader? Is it Trocheck or Miller? Those are the only two candidates.

One thing that is obvious is that Laviolette will not be back. Judging from his body language on the bench, he looks like he needs a vacation. He’s never coached a team that tuned him out in the second year. As Mollie Walker highlighted in her excellent piece in the NY Post on Sunday, there’s been a serious disconnect between the coach and players.

Leah Hextall reported on ESPN that the Rangers bench was “church-like” during the game and Laviolette hadn’t said more than two words.

That checks out, considering the writing has essentially been on the wall for the second-year coach since December.

“Even tonight, we didn’t do the right things well enough to be successful,” Laviolette said. “We give up three goals point blank in front of our net. Can’t happen. It’s been pretty consistent all year, we just haven’t played well enough to win hockey games. That’s what makes it frustrating and disappointing.

“I believe that this team is good enough to win hockey games, good enough to play in the playoffs, but we’re not in it. That’s the reality of it. We didn’t do the right things. We didn’t do them enough.”

The Rangers have been a fundamentally flawed team all season. Even when they were winning games to at one point to start 12-4-1, both Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick were bailing them out. There were too many mistakes made in coverage and not enough backchecking. They were careless by turning over pucks and not always hustling back.

The defensive system assistant coach Phil Housley had broken down. Eventually, so too did the goalies. The power play became abominable, going from ranked in the top three to near the bottom a year later. Even the penalty kill deteriorated recently, falling out of the top 10 despite having a league-leading 16 shorthanded goals.

In short, they fell apart. On a Masters Sunday, it’s appropriate that there’s golf on. That’s where they’re headed next weekend.


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