Igor Shesterkin is seen during the national anthem before Game Five against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Madison Square Garden on Thursday. Photo: Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images
The New York Rangers' season ended Saturday night with a 2-1 loss to Lightning, and it's only natural that they let something slip. They won their first two Eastern Conference Finals games while playing hockey of the year, then led 2-0 in Game 3 before Tampa Bay took over and never gave up. There are a few moments that will haunt fans all summer: Ryan Strom breathes on the puck as he expands his net in Game 5, Jacob Tropa's ill-fated kick that halted the four-minute sprint in Game 3 of Game 3, or she. Stephen Stamkos. A long-range shot passed Igor Shesterkin to score Lightning's first goal in Game 6, a shot weaker than any number Shesterkin was able to erase. Tampa Bay has won four straight games and deserved every single one of them. At the end of the series, he was one step faster than the Rangers. (Maybe two steps). But it wouldn't take much to move the series the other way, or at least bring it back to Madison Square Garden for Game 7 on Tuesday night.
But in terms of losses at the end of the season, those losses are very easy to bear. Tampa made no mistake over outplaying Rangers in the decisive game, and as has often been the case this season, Shesterkin kept his side in a game that could easily have been great. But Rangers were not expected to go into the playoffs this season in the eyes of many critics. They weren't supposed to come back from the 3-1 series against Pittsburgh in the first round. And they weren't supposed to come back against Carolina after losing the first two games of that streak, especially since that meant having to beat a team in Game 7 unbeaten after a playoff at home this year. Already playing in Tampa Bay, the Rangers seem to have a realistic hope of ending Lightning's incredible ten-game winning streak, an impressive feat for any team, not to mention one that shattered their entire roster almost just four years ago. In short, this year's Rangers weren't supposed to be so much fun.
Part of what made the feelings about this team so good was satisfaction with the plan being implemented, much faster than expected. Seeing a team that exceeds expectations is one of the best things for a sports fan. The term "playing with house money" is often used in such situations, but it's the right idea here. Once they escaped the first round (and maybe even once they got there), the Rangers already had a season to celebrate. There have been a number of matches this season where there was little reason to believe they would win, apart from defying the odds and proving the critics wrong each time. Even after some ugly losses, they gave fans permission to hope against hope and then did it again a few days later.
But the problem with a season like this is that you only get one season. Rangers will start next season with high expectations for the first time in years. They are expected to do what they just did, or at least something close to it. Since their list is so small, it is hoped that going forward in an even bigger year will mean it will be an even better year. The organization has decisions to make about next season's roster, but the fundamentals that fueled this year's race will likely return to some extent. And because they have shown how they can exceed expectations, no one will take them seriously next year, no matter what shortcomings the numbers indicate.
That's not a bad thing, exactly. Comes with a competition area. But part of the fun of this team was the feeling that all of this wasn't supposed to happen yet, and that rebuilding was paying off sooner than it was supposed to. It's been the rare treat of the season, it's all positive and there was no way it could really disappoint. He made the playoffs extraordinarily fun: Postseason hockey is usually intimidating and brings relief more than anything else. But the relative lack of pressure allowed fans to enjoy all the things that made this team so fun to watch all season: Shesterkin's superb goal. Unique designs release a zip-banged mecha wand from his favorite spot in the power game. Chris Kreider comes out as a leader in everything but the name. The playoffs gave fans 7 Nail-biter and Game 7. They also showed their fans glimpses of growth from some young players that will go a long way in determining how good this team will ultimately be.
When the page turns into the holiday season, I'll be thinking about this a lot.
Rangers played over 1,200 minutes this post-season, but the decisive minute came in the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Lightning. This might not seem like much to the casual sports viewer, but at the time, the Rangers kept the Lightning Locked in their area with a series of sightings and stopped the pucks. The crowd in the park swelled with each one and finally exploded as the constant pressure led to a Philip Shettle goal that gave Rangers a 4-2 lead.
Heres that entire shift by the kid line for you Rangers gang pic.twitter.com/KtFwjwfbUa
— Andrew (@based_shesty) June 2, 2022
Much has been achieved in recent weeks around the so-called "kids line" of Shell, Alexis Lavernier and Kabu Kaku. All three were previous picks in the first round, and while still young, none of them distinguished themselves as a star-caliber player. At times in the playoffs, they were the Rangers' best performer, though at other times they were scattered or seldom used. (Kakko didn't even break the roster in Saturday's game six.) But with the core team essentially stable and a maximum salary limiting their options, a large part of Rangers' advantage lies in those three players, or in earnings. What? They can if the captain decides, Chris Drury's team tests the commercial market. Was this such a wonderful moment, one fan was quick to call it simply "The Transformation," a sign of a brighter future? Was that the basic idea for this team to take a step forward next year? We won't know the answer for some time. But we already know next season will be very different anyway.
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