Rangers eliminated from playoffs, dormant offense among culprits

SUNRISE, Fla. -- The New York Rangers were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Florida Panthers with a 2-1 loss in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final at Amerant Bank Arena on Saturday.

New York also lost in six games in the conference final in 2022. It hasn't reached the Stanley Cup Final since 2014 and has not won the Cup since 1994.

The Rangers (55-23-4) finished first in the Metropolitan Division and won the Presidents' Trophy with an NHL-best 114 points in the regular season. They set team records for wins and points in a season.

New York swept the Washington Capitals in the first round and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in six games in the second round before losing to Florida in the conference final.

The skinny

Potential unrestricted free agents: Alex Wennberg, F; Jack Roslovic, F; Blake Wheeler, F; Erik Gustafsson, D; Chad Ruhwedel, D

Potential restricted free agents: Kaapo Kakko, F; Ryan Lindgren, D; Braden Schneider; D

Potential 2024 Draft picks: 4

Here are five reasons the Rangers were eliminated:

1. Relied too much on Shesterkin

Igor Shesterkin was the Rangers’ best player. He was arguably the best player in the series for either team. Usually when that happens, that goalie's team has a great chance to win and advance. But the Rangers were unable. Shesterkin was, in fact, the reason they weren't eliminated sooner than Game 6. New York was outshot 34-24 in Game 6 and 202-151 in the series. The Panthers had a 468-372 advantage in shot attempts in the series. The Rangers did not have the puck enough for long stretches to advance. When they did, they didn't do enough with it. They couldn't score enough, mustering 12 goals in six games. And when Florida had the puck, Shesterkin had to be brilliant. Had he not been, it easily could have been over in five games, if not four.

2. Power play went cold

The Rangers’ success on the power play started to tail off in the second round, when they went 1-for-10 in Games 3-6. They couldn't get it going against the Panthers either; New York was 1-for-15 on the power play in the conference final and 2-for-25 in its last 10 games of the playoffs after clicking at 40.0 percent through its first six games, all wins. The Rangers had one opportunity with the man-advantage in Game 6 and managed one non-descript shot on goal and two shot attempts. Not surprisingly, their goals per game in the playoffs dropped from 3.83 in their first six games to 2.40 in their last 10, including 2.00 in the conference final.

3. Panarin didn't score

Artemi Panarin's only goal in the series came with 1:40 remaining in the third period Saturday. It was a 6-on-5 goal that cut Florida's lead to 2-1. It was the very definition of too little, too late. Panarin had four points in the series, including three assists, but New York needed more from its most dynamic forward and best scorer. Panarin had one goal in the last nine games of the playoffs after scoring four times in the first seven, including the overtime goal in Game 3 against the Hurricanes. He had one shot on goal in each of Games 3 and 4. Panarin led the Rangers in the regular season in goals (49), assists (71) and points (120) in 82 games. He finished the playoffs with 15 points (five goals, 10 assists) in 16 games.

4. Kreider, Zibanejad struggled

Panarin's struggles were compounded by the fact the Rangers’ first-line duo of Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider also was held without a point in five of the six games. Neither had a point until Kreider scored a short-handed goal off a pass from Zibanejad at 2:04 of the second period in Game 5. Each had an assist on Alexis Lafrenière's goal at 19:10 of the third that cut Florida's lead to 3-2. It was too little too late that night, and then they were shut out again in Game 6. Through the first two rounds, Zibanejad had 14 points (three goals, 11 assists) and Kreider had 10 (seven goals, three assists), including a natural hat trick in the third period of Game 6 against Carolina that led the Rangers’ comeback from 3-1 to a 5-3 series-clinching win. But they couldn't get going again against the Panthers because they were defending too much.

5. Third-period problems

Florida outscored the Rangers 7-3 in the third period in the series. The Panthers scored the game-winning goal in the third in Games 5 and 6. They outshot the Rangers 66-45 in the third period, including 52-25 in Games 3-6. Florida got stronger as the games went along in this series, and New York could not match it.