Are the New York Rangers Actually Good?

Way back in December, this column was born. Little did anyone know at the time, the New York Rangers would be getting ready to play June hockey in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning, winners of back-to-back Stanley Cups. It is time to revisit that column, and see how far the Rangers have come since then. 

So, what have the Rangers done since December? The Blueshirts went on to challenge the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division, and only lost out on the division crown in the last week of the regular season. The team improved drastically at 5-on-5 play, the power play finished 4th in the National Hockey League, and Igor Shesterkin completely stood on his head. Just to be perfectly clear, this team would not be in this position without the play of the soon-to-be Vezina Trophy winner. 

Rangers general manager Chris Drury took a bit of stick for some moves that many felt were questionable at best when he took over last summer. Where Drury deserves a lot of credit however is the way he maneuvered and transformed the team at the trade deadline this year. Frank Vatrano, acquired from the Florida Panthers, has been outstanding playing on the right of Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider on the Rangers top line. Andrew Copp has been nothing short of sensational, playing on a line with Artemi Panarin and Ryan Strome, registering a point a game when combining his regular and postseason statistics since joining the Rangers from Winnipeg. Tyler Motte and Justin Braun have been terrific additions as well, with both players contributing significantly in the Rangers playoff run. 

Credit must also be given to Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant. Gallant joined the Rangers with a glowing reputation as the ultimate player’s coach, and that reputation has followed him to the bright lights of Broadway. He has the team humming at the right time, and hasn’t been afraid to make some big calls when need be. The team has flourished under Gallant in year one, and not many expected this team to be a legitimate Stanley Cup contender this early. 

Now what have the Rangers done thus far in the playoffs? Starting out against Pittsburgh, the series had a lot of significance for reasons other than it being the Rangers against the Penguins which has always been a special series. The series against the Penguins felt like a shift, featuring the older Penguins core of  Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, all in the twilight of their glowing careers, going up against the new kids on the block with this Rangers team. It took seven games for the Rangers to defeat the Penguins, with Crosby showing the Rangers exactly what his game is still all about. He was the absolute best player in that series versus the Rangers, no questions asked, albeit in a losing effort. 

The series versus Pittsburgh felt like a must have for this Rangers team. Anything more than that would be house money for this team. Succeeding in round one, in a game seven nonetheless, was exactly what this team needed to do. Not many would expect the Rangers to then go up against Carolina and take care of business. For starters, the Hurricanes have consistently been one of the most consistent teams in the entire league this season. Yet Carolina, like Pittsburgh, dealt with injuries in goal. Freddie Andersen had been out since mid-April with a lower-body injury, and Antti Raanta was called in to deputize for Andersen. Raanta had been terrific on home-ice for Carolina, and in a series where the Canes were going to have that advantage it seemed a steep hill to climb for the Rangers. 

Games one and two presented the Rangers with two very winnable games. The Rangers were defeated in OT in game one thanks to an Ian Cole winner after Sebastian Aho tied it in the dying embers of the third period. In game two, they were defeated 2-0 with a short-handed goal by Brendan Smith and an empty-netter by Sebastian Aho again doing the job. Many felt these were missed opportunities, as the Rangers could have flipped the script to take a split back to Madison Square Garden and potentially win their series in six. Unfortunately, the Rangers needed to win two games at home in order to not have game five be an elimination game in Carolina where the Hurricanes hadn’t lost yet in the playoffs. 

In game three, the Rangers top guys showed up. Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider scored the goals to give the Rangers the win on home ice, and then in game four deadline acquisitions Andrew Copp and Frank Vatrano had multi-point efforts in a 4-1 win. The Rangers held serve, somehow, on home-ice. Now, they needed to go back to Carolina and figure out how to crack the code that is defeating the Hurricanes at home. 

Game five was one to forget for the Rangers, with Gerard Gallant calling out the effort his team showed. Gallant said his team “weren’t quick enough, weren’t strong enough, and weren’t competitive enough” in the game, and now the Rangers did not have a choice: they were going to have to win in Raleigh to get to the Eastern Conference Finals. 

First they had to win in game 6 on home-ice, and this is where the critiquing from the December column starts. Barclay Goodrow, who was signed to a long-term contract last summer with the aim of being a formidable bottom six presence who brings playoff experience from Tampa Bay, returned to the lineup for the Rangers. He had been out since game one of the Pittsburgh series with a lower-body injury that sources with knowledge of the situation deemed to be a broken left ankle. The return of Goodrow brought energy and spark to a Rangers team that needed it. When he signed, many criticized the contract. Now, the deal looks genius. This is exactly what he was signed for, deep playoff runs. The best teams have bottom six forward groups that are stacked, and Goodrow is a part of it. A versatile player that can play on either wing or at center, Goodrow is also invaluable to this Rangers team on the penalty kill, his ability to provide an aggressive forecheck, and block shots. He is everything a team would want in a leader that leads not only vocally, but by example as well. 

The Rangers would win game six quite comfortably, setting up the decisive game seven in Raleigh. The Hurricanes hadn’t lost in their building the entire playoffs, and had only lost 12 times total in Raleigh during the season. This was an uphill battle that the Rangers faced, but they knew if they copied the formula they had followed during three games at home this series they could do it. 

The dust settles, and the Rangers win convincingly. Top to bottom, the Rangers played their most complete game of the series in game seven. The Rangers are now in the final four, with a 25% chance to win the Stanley Cup. Really simplifying it now, if the Rangers go 8-6 in their last 14 games, they will hoist the Stanley Cup. In the way of that dream are the Lightning, the most sturdy test of all. 

The matchup everyone will look at as being pivotal to the series for either team is in goal. Perhaps the two best goalies on the planet will face off against each other, and goodness will this be epic. Andrei Vasilevskiy versus Igor Shesterkin. This will be a battle for the ages in net, but looking elsewhere the Lightning provide the biggest test for the Rangers yet. On attack, the Rangers must be wary of stars Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos. They have the ability to take over games by themselves given their incredible abilities. On defense, Victor Hedman and former Rangers captain Ryan McDonagh will be tasked with stopping the likes of Zibanejad and Kreider. Both being left handed defenseman, expect either one to be on the ice at all times when both Zibanejad and Kreider are out there. 

There is no way that the Rangers will be able to pull this off in a runaway. If the Rangers do win this series, it will more than likely be in six or seven games. To say that this is the marker however for the Rangers progress this season is unfair. They have made it further than even the biggest of Rangers fans could have expected them to go. This team has made strides this year, and this experience will only benefit them in the years to come. So the last question that remains is very simply, why not us?