My prediction for the Rangers’ first round would be a win in 6 or 7 games. I thought no matter who won, it’d be close. What happened was the JV team showed up and handed the Devils their first pass to the second round in 12 years.

It started out well!

Two 5-1 wins on New Jersey home ice made it look like the Rangers would move on in 5 games. Then the Devils made some appropriate changes and won the next three games in a row.

2-1, 3-1, 4-0. That first one was close, it felt like either team could win like whoever made a mistake first would lose. The Rangers let that get away from them. The next two games were just a slide into the dumpster. The Rangers couldn’t get any sustained offensive pressure and the rookie goalie came across like he’d one the Vesna trophy multiple times.

Game 6, the Rangers rallied back 5-2. After falling over themselves it was back to a legit Rangers hockey game. Then another total collapse to lose Game 7 and the series 4-0.

So the post season matched the regular season. Inconsistent. Moments of brilliance pulled back into incompetence. There was an alarming amount of time when the team played disjointed. A lack of a clear plan and communication on ice. Terrible passing–turnovers got out of control and the Devils pounced on it.

Too many of the team’s all-stars didn’t show up to play hockey. Artemi Panarin is the worst offender. He had 2 assists in the first game and that’s it. He was more of a liability than anything with how much he was getting stuffed on offense and a parking cone on defense. One of the highest paid players in the NHL can’t do that. Scoring 90 points helps get your team into the playoffs. You also need to play to keep your team in the playoffs.

The better team of 7 games won, that’s the short end of it. There are a ton of things to complain about (stubbornness of only using the first power play unit, underutilizing the “kids”, not disciplining the veterans when they play like a baboon, and holy animal what happened to forechecking) but it’s all hot air now. Changes have to be made for next season as this is not a championship team.

A new coach? Maybe. There are a lot of factors to this question but knee-jerk reactions will just cause more chaos. Kane and Tarasenko did well, just not the high bar everyone was expecting. Kane was the most disappointing in the playoffs. New players? Probably but with what money and who do you let go? You need to know a replaced position will be demonstrably better. This solution could also be more drastic line changes with a little personnel change. The younger players need to continue to do strength, conditioning, and skate training through the off season. Everyone has to be better next season.

It’s been a terrible feeling of such a brutal loss with such a good roster. Tampa, Colorado, and Boston all lost too (Boston being the biggest disaster, so thanks for taking some of the shame spotlight best team in the history of the NHL!) so the Stanley Cup is completely up for grabs. Every series has been wild and so far the second-round matchups continue that trend. I’d like to see Seatle win for the Cinderella story and Toronto for the redemption arc. Edmonton winning would be good just for a Canadian team to finally get the Cup up north.

The Devils got smacked down 5-1 by Carolina in the first game…we’ll see if they can turn it around again. I’m thinking they won’t.