The New York Rangers season is over in disappointing fashion despite the team making big investments for a deep playoff run.
The original six franchise was eliminated in seven games by the New Jersey Devils on Monday night.
The Rangers got off to a quick start in the series by taking a 2-0 lead – but everything turned around since Devils head coach Lindy Ruff made the move to put in rookie goaltender Akira Schmid in game three.
The Devils then went on to win four of the next five games.
Schmid posted a remarkable .951 save percentage with a 1.38 goals-against average in five games.
While Schmid was impressive, the Rangers failed to adapt and outwork the Devils as a team.
That comes despite the Rangers trading multiple draft choices including a first-round pick and a second-round selection to acquire what were supposed to be two difference-making players in Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko.
There are plenty of people to blame for the Rangers collapse.
The Rangers leading point-getter in 2022, Artemi Panarin, was abysmal and failed to record a goal in the series against the Devils.
Mika Zibanejad, the second-highest point-getter for the Rangers during the regular season wasn’t much better.
He had just one goal and four points in seven games.
When your best players aren’t your best players – it’s tough to win.
But when the Rangers with all the skill in the lineup are not ready to play hockey as a team in the most critical games in the season – that starts with coaching.
While they had a great game plan going into the series, they didn’t adapt.
The Rangers failed to generate enough grade-a scoring chances as the series went on.
Since game 3, the Rangers had only 36 high-danger looks compared to the Devils’ 74, according to data from Natural Stat Trick.
That’s a 2:1 ratio in favor of the Devils.
The Ranger’s starts were also abysmal, as it surrendered the first goal in the last four games in the series.
And when your team looks that bad with all the offensive firepower from Kane to Panarin, you have to look at head coach Gerard Gallant.
In addition to the tactical problems, Gallant chose to stick with giving Panarin tough minutes despite the results not being there.
So now where do the Rangers go from here?
Well, perhaps it could move on from Gallant after the early exit. Some argue he had the most talented Rangers’ roster since the Stanley Cup winner in 1994.
Some veteran coaching options that the Rangers could look at if it decides to go that route are Bruce Boudreau and Claude Julien.
But general manager Chris Drury will have a decision to make after incredibly underwhelming playoffs.
