Rаngers End Seаson In A Wһіmрer Wіtһ Serіes Loss To Pаntһers

The Rangers fought hard, but Florida's physical defense was just too much for New York to handle, leading to a crushing Game 6 defeat.

The New York Rangers’ season is officially over.

The Florida Panthers defeated New York 2-1 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final, crushing the Rangers’ hopes at winning a Stanley Cup.

Going into this matchup, the Rangers were coming off of a crushing 3-2 loss at Madison Square Garden, which gave Florida the upper-hand in this series.

After a strong start to Game 6 in the first period, Florida began to impose their will on New York just as they have been doing all series long, leading to a Sam Bennett goal.

In the second period, the Rangers started to generate some high quality chances, but the bounces just weren’t going their way in what truly felt like an elimination game.

Through the final frame, New York struggled to get anything substantial offensively going due to Florida’s smothering and physical defense.

Vladimir Tarasenko’s goal 9:08 into the third period put the Panthers up 2-0 and essentially iced the game.

Artemi Panarin scored a goal late in the contest, but it was too little too late and just like that, the Rangers were eliminated.

It was a frustrating end to an incredible yet disappointing season since the Rangers weren’t able to go all the way to the Stanley Cup Final or reach a Game 7 against the Panthers at Madison Square Garden.

“Nobody was expecting to be on this end of it. You're expecting to come in here tonight, win a hockey game and bring it back to MSG for a Game 7,” Peter Laviolette said. “There's a disappointment that goes with that.”

Throughout this series, Florida was more physical, quicker, aggressive and just overall better than the Rangers. It was that simple.

The Panthers are made for playoff hockey and it’s hard to beat a team of that caliber that plays with that sort of physical edge.

The Rangers won the Presidents’ Trophy and still have a lot of things to be proud of.

At the end of the day though, they couldn’t get it done when it mattered most, so Chris Dury might be in store for a busy offseason to help the Rangers reach their highest potential come next season.