The 2023-24 season has come to an end for the New York Rangers as they fell in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final to the Florida Panthers. This is the second time they have lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final in the past three seasons, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a season where it truly felt like it was Stanley Cup or bust and the Rangers once again fell short of ending the 30-year Stanley Cup drought.
This Rangers team felt like they could be the team to win it all. They had a historic regular season and played very well through the first two rounds of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but once they played a team that was better than them in all aspects besides goaltending, they just couldn’t find a way to overcome the adversity. Now, with the season over, we are going to look back on this season and ask the question, was it a success or was it a failure because they didn’t reach the goal of winning a Stanley Cup?
A Presidents’ Trophy-Winning Regular Season
After getting embarrassed in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and losing in the first round to the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers entered the 2023-24 season with a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to prove that the way they played against the Devils was not how they would be playing moving forward. They moved on from Gerard Gallant and hired Peter Laviolette as his replacement. This hiring proved to be a smart one as the Rangers went on to have the best regular season in franchise history. They finished with 55 wins and 114 points to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the regular season.
Leading the way in the regular season was Artemi Panarin. After coming off a playoff performance with just one assist in seven games, he was determined to come back and be a more effective player. He was all that and more, as he went on to score 49 goals and 120 points, setting new career highs having the most points in a season by a Ranger since Jaromir Jagr in the 2005-06 season. He was also helped by his linemates, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, who both had career seasons. Lafreniere finally had his breakout season, scoring 28 goals and 57 points, while Trocheck scored 25 goals and 77 points. They were the best line for the Rangers and they helped lead the way to a historic regular season.
Yet Another Eastern Conference Final Loss
The Rangers entered these playoffs as one of the favorites to win the Stanley Cup and after having such a historic regular season, they should have been seen as one of the favorites. They dispatched their first round opponent, the Washington Capitals, in a four-game sweep and entered the second round with lots of confidence. They would match up against another rival, the Carolina Hurricanes. Many were expecting this to be a seven-game series, as both of these teams were the top two teams in the Metropolitan Division all season long. However, the Rangers shockingly won the first three games and had a 3-0 series lead and were tied late in Game 4 and could’ve swept the Hurricanes. However, Carolina fought back and won Games 4 and 5 and had a 3-1 lead going into the third period of Game 6. Chris Kreider scored a natural hat-trick in the third and the Rangers moved on to the Eastern Conference Final.
Related: Rangers’ Season End in Disappointment: Who’s to Blame?
The Rangers faced the Florida Panthers and if they had won, they would have moved on to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 10 years. However, it was not meant to be as the Panthers dominated the majority of the series and if it wasn’t for the goaltending of Igor Shesterkin, it would’ve been over a lot quicker than six games. He kept the team in these games and since the other top players were not scoring, he had to play even better just to give them a chance. The Rangers’ top scorers, Panarin, Kreider and Mika Zibanejad combined for just two goals in the six games, one from Panarin and one from Kreider, and none at even-strength. They were never going to win if their top guys didn’t show up and now, they are heading home disappointed yet again and have lost in the Eastern Conference Final for the third time in nine years.
Can This Season Be Considered a Success?
The Rangers were one of the final four teams and came just two wins short of making it to the Final. They got beat by the better team and now that the season is over, can it be considered a success? In some ways, it can be looked at as a successful season because they had the best regular season in franchise history, got career seasons from key players and made it all the way to the final four. However, it can also be seen as a failure because they didn’t make it to the Final and their top players disappeared yet again in the playoffs when they were needed most. Panarin and Zibanejad were all but invisible in the conference final and Jacob Trouba was the worst defenseman on the team and he’s the captain of this team. The big players failed to step up and because of their lack of production and poor play, the Rangers are going home.
Ultimately, the Rangers failed to win the Stanley Cup and even though they had such a great regular season, none of that matters if you can’t get it done in the playoffs, and they failed to get the job done once again. This core group of players has had three straight seasons of not showing up in these big games and this is why this season will be looked back on as a major what-if. It seemed that they had the tools to get the job done, but they ran into a team that is built better for the playoffs and now, the offseason begins and it could be a summer of major changes in New York.
