Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Rangers gave their best chance in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference on Saturday night at Tampa Bay, but unfortunately for them, they faced a Lightning team that showed everyone what a dynasty team looks like. Stanley Cup today.
The Bolts dominated the puck possession game, leaning on superstar goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy and getting two well-timed goals from star forward Steven Stamkos to win 2-1 and eliminate the Blueshirts from the playoffs.
While there will no doubt be thousands of Rangers fans waking up to a sad case today, there are positives to be drawn from New York’s playoff run this spring. They may not be at Tampa’s level yet, but they have plenty of championship-caliber components that can do even more damage next season.
Start with the Rangers’ goal: Igor Shesterkin was fantastic for the vast majority of the postseason and showed why he’s a finalist for the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player. If the Blueshirts had made it to the Cup Final, he too would have gotten votes for playoff MVP.
On Saturday he allowed Rayo’s first goal after being blocked, but gave his team a chance to win. It is just unfortunate for him that he came up against an equally excellent goalkeeper in Vasilevskiy. But Shesterkin is almost certain to be a high-impact player for years to come, and you need that to be a consistent Cup competitor.
You also need a top-tier defenseman like Bolts star Victor Hedman to anchor the back end and jump into the play as an offensive weapon. The Rangers have one of those in Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox; the 24-year-old was a point-per-game playoff player for New York this spring, with 18 assists and 23 points in 20 games. His best days are also ahead and, surrounded by D-men like Jacob Trouba and K’Andre Miller, Fox will lead a defense force that can make a difference.
The Rangers also have an excellent veteran star forward on the same level as Stamkos. His name is Artemi Panarin, and while Panarin didn’t thrive in the playoffs like he did in the regular season, he still scored 16 points in 20 games. He and fellow Rangers forwards Mika Zibanejad (24 points in 20 games) and Chris Kreider (10 goals and 16 points in 20 games) will be back next season and ready to power Rangers’ offense once again.
And then, of course, there are New York’s young forwards Alexis Lafreniere and Kaapo Kakko; the latter was a healthy scratch for Game 6, but Lafreniere is only 20 and Kakko is only 21. They will learn from their experience and be much more of a postseason threat next year.
As we should all know by now, winning a Cup is a long and learning process. Before ascending to the heights they’ve been at for three years in a row, Lightning had her share of disappointments and failures. They had to go through growing pains, emphasis on pain, just like the Rangers are going through right now. When you get this far in the playoffs and come up short, it instills a hunger in you that smart coaches and GMs use to their advantage in subsequent seasons.
That’s where the Rangers are now. They were impressive in defeating Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, and then topped the Metropolitan Division champion Carolina Hurricanes in the second round. Nothing short of at least one trip to next year’s Eastern Finals will be enough for the Rangers next season, and that’s a positive. But they have the foundation of a future Cup winner, and now it’s about biding their time and capitalizing on their next chance to win it all.
Reference-thehockeynews.com