What Went Wrong: Rangers Eliminated Due to a Lack of Bread

The Division Semifinals came to a close with Game Seven in the Metropolitan Division between the New Jersey Devils and the New York Rangers. This is a series loaded with history; they've been division rivals for decades, and their rivalry has included a memorable playoff meeting in 1994, the East Final series that saw Stephane Matteau keep hope alive, and the Rangers go on to win that series and win the Stanley Cup in the next round. This meeting was the first time that the clubs faced each other since the Eastern Conference Final in 2012, and it kicked off with the Rangers actually winning Games One and Two in Jersey.

A start like that is a recipe for a big series win, but when the series shifted to Madison Square Garden, the Rangers disappeared, losing both games. With that, the momentum was gone, and they would have complete problems adjusting to New Jersey's change in net. Vitek Vanacek was out, and Akira Schmid was in, and as a result, very few Ranger pucks went in. The Rangers would lose two of the final three games in the series, with both losses being shutouts. So with that, the Rangers--who reached the East Final last season--saw their season come to an early end.

The Rangers went all in with trades this season, acquiring not only Vladimir Tarasenko, but Patrick Kane as well. Following these acquisitions, the Rangers became heavily favored and feared. Remember: this team finished two wins shy of reaching the Stanley Cup Final, and with two proven Cup winners joining the fray, it was a foregone conclusion that the Rangers would not only reach the Final, they would win it. And then it suddenly wasn't. The fault does not lie with the pair of new Rangers. Kane had six points (G/5 A), while Tarasenko had four points, with three of them being goals. The leaders for the Rangers were Chris Kreider with nine points (six of them being goals) and Adam Fox with eight points (all assists).

Notice a name or two missing from that bunch?

Mika Zibanejad, the Rangers captain, also had four points, but only one of them entered the net. While that was damning, what I'm about to say is worse. One of the team's other top players, Artemi Panarin, was nearly invisible during the series. Only two points from the "Bread Man," and both of those points were helpers. That is very damning, considering that Panarin is part of the Rangers' top line. As for Igor Shesterkin, last year's Vezina winner, he went 3-4, but had a SV% of .931 and a sub-2.00 GAA. He definitely fulfilled his duty. The skaters? Not so much.

This is a stunning decline for the New York Rangers, going from part of the Final Four last year to an early exit this year. This was definitely not the outcome that many, myself included, expected. I really thought the Rangers were a bigtime superpower. I actually had them running away with the Metropolitan Division and making another long run, especially after they acquired Kane and Tarasenko. They ended up fizzling out. I got fooled. To play off the words of the late, great NFL coach Dennis Green, the New York Rangers were definitely not who I thought they were. It's back to the drawing board for the Rangers, and I sense quite a busy offseason for the club.

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