SUNRISE, Fla. — A Rangers season that was so grand was reduced to one single digit.
The white-stenciled zero projected on the Amerant Bank Arena jumbotron next to the Blueshirts’ crest for the majority of Saturday night’s affair will serve as the lasting image of this 2023-24 season, which came to a shameful finish in a 2-1 loss to the Panthers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.
That third win has evaded the Rangers for their last two conference final appearances, and the Stanley Cup drought will continue on at 30 years.
The meaningless Presidents’ Trophy is the only hardware the Rangers are coming away with this season.
The Rangers were shackled in this series against a Panthers team that made them feel it and work for it every shift.
Most of the stronger periods they had never resulted in anything more than a scoreless frame or a one-goal lead, which was the case once again after 20 minutes Saturday night.
Florida broke up every one of the Rangers’ East-West pass attempts, but at least there was occasional sustained zone time while goalie Igor Shesterkin stood tall at the other end.
With less than a minute left in the first period, however, Erik Gustafsson’s weak backhanded clearing attempt — a Rangers trend all series — allowed the Panthers to barge back into the zone.
Jacob Trouba then went for the hit as Sam Bennett slipped the puck to Evan Rodrigues, who left a drop pass for the Panthers forward to one-time into the back of the net for the 1-0 lead.
Much like the rest of the series, Shesterkin was the Rangers’ only saving grace as he made 32 stops to keep it a one-goal game until just over halfway through the third period.
Vladimir Tarasenko, who was in the trenches with the Rangers during their first-round exit against the Devils last year, hammered the nail in his former club’s coffin at the 9:08 mark of the final frame.
Head coach Peter Laviolette, who was lauded for the continuity he was able to maintain in the Rangers lineup all year long despite two season-ending injuries, ended up deploying 10 different lineups to finish the playoffs.
The loss of Jimmy Vesey hurt the fourth line’s identity and forced a change, but nearly every other personnel decision seemed to be a reaction for a coach that was so sturdy and so sure of himself all year.
Game 6 saw Laviolette blow up the lines — except for the untouchable Artemi Panarin-Vincent Trocheck-Alexis Lafreniere unit — to no avail.
The thought process behind it all just seemed to get convoluted once Filip Chytil came into the mix in Game 3 of the second round against Carolina, which became another aspect of the Rangers’ game for Laviolette to manage.
And yet, despite operating under another coach and making moves at another trade deadline, the Rangers still can’t answer the age-old question of who to play on the right wing with Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider.
As beneficial as it would be to have a player who fits in well with Zibanejad and Kreider, if the club’s two longest-tenured players can’t make a significant mark on a series, the Rangers go nowhere.
The same sentiment rings true regarding the team’s most dynamic skater, Panarin, and top defenseman, Adam Fox, who combined for just six assists in this series before the former chipped in a goal in the final two minutes of regulation Saturday.
As the Rangers’ best players went quiet, so did the best parts of the Rangers’ game.
The power play scored once in 15 tries.
The penalty kill gave up five goals.
The offensive drive was stymied.
It was ultimately what doomed the Rangers, who, despite holding a 2-1 series lead at one point, never measured up to the hunger and tenacity Florida played with every single game.
There was never a pushback great enough to counteract the edge the Panthers had.
There was never an initiative taken to change course.
There was only a zero.
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