Game 7 felt a lot like a Rangers game in the Henrik Lundqvist Era. Their goalie did everything he could to win a hockey game, but the team couldn't find a way to score.
The Prudential Center, better known as "The Rock" was in fact rocking for the start of Game 7 between the New York Rangers and New Jersey Devils.
The game had a great pace right from the jump, with both teams exchanging scoring chances early on. The Rangers got the game's first power play after Nathan Bastian was called for tripping, but that would only last for 33 seconds. Nico Hischier had the game's first Grade-A scoring chance, which came shorthanded, but Adam Fox was called for Holding as the Rangers were on the man advantage.
So much for the referees putting the whistles away in Game 7, each team served a minor in the opening five minutes.
For the fourth game in a row, it felt like the New Jersey Devils completely dominated the opening minutes of the game, but Igor Shesterkin had an answer for everything that was thrown his way.
The Rangers had back-to-back power play opportunities, getting some great looks from Zibanejad and Tarasenko, but they failed to convert.
Igor Shesterkin was the story of the first period.
The Rangers were lucky to come out of the first period with the score tied.
The second period had a ton of excitement. Both goaltenders were putting on a show. The Rangers would have their fourth power play chance of the evening, but it would not go in their favor.
Ondrej Palat, who was a Ranger killer for the Tampa Bay Lightning, made a great shorthanded play. Palat stripped the puck from Kreider and made a great move around Fox, before feeding Michael McLeod, who was left wide open at the net mouth.
McLeod outwaited Shesterkin for a gorgeous finish, giving the Devils the games opening goal.
The next goal was the most important goal of the game. The Devils fed off of the energy from their first tally. John Marino made an unbelievable play, walking through the Rangers and fanning on a backhanded opportunity. He stuck with his initial shot, throwing a behind-the-back pass from below the goal line to a wide-open Tomas Tatar right at the top of the crease. Tatar wasted no time, firing it home before Shesterkin could recover to give the Devils a commanding 2-0 lead.
The Devils would hang onto the lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
The final frame didn't get any better for New York. Jacob Trouba tried to wake the team up, laying a massive hit on Devils' forward, Timo Meier. The hit was certainly a scary one as Meier had his head down. It looked like a good, old fashioned hockey hit, but of course you hate to see a player go down like that.
This hit caused a ton of arguments on the beautiful bird app, also known as Twitter, but by the interaction in the handshake line between the two players, there was nothing but respect for one another.
Trouba's hit wouldn't be a big enough spark for the Rangers. New Jersey would add the dagger at the 14:27 mark when Jack Hughes made a gorgeous saucer pass to Erik Haula on a 2-on-1 rush. Haula fired it home for his fourth tally of the series. If you ask me, Haula was one of the biggest X-factors in this series for the Devils. He led the team in points with four goals and two assists in the seven games played.
Jesper Bratt would add an empty net goal, making this back-to-back 4-0 losses for the Rangers in New Jersey and clinching the series for the Devils.
The truth of the matter is that the Devils were the better team all season, for the majority of the series and in the deciding Game 7. The Rangers did not deserve to win, and if you ask me, the entire series came down to the power play.
The Rangers tallied power play goals in three separate games. They won all three of those contests. They lost all four games that they didn't convert on the man-advantage. This team lived and died by it's power play unit.
There's no denying the fact that this was a talented group, but in Gerard Gallant's postgame comments, talent isn't enough in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Coach Gallant had this to say "Talent doesn't mean a thing. It's great to have talent but when you've gotta play together and work hard together... the four games that we lost, we had two goals."
The theme of Rangers team in the past was incredible goaltending from Henrik Lundqvist, but not enough goal support. This series had the same exact feeling for the Rangers fans of the previous generation.
Adam Fox was one of those fans during the Lunqvist era, and he recognized right after the game that Shesterkin deserved better. Fox went on to say “I feel bad for Igor. He battled all series for us, feel bad to not be able to get some goal support for him. Credit to their goalie played too, he played well, but obviously feel bad for our goalie the way he battled. I kind of feel like we let him down.”
Chris Kreider has been this organization for over a decade. He has been a part of many uplifting wins and heartbreaking losses. Win or lose, he has always held himself accountable. The veteran forward led this team in points in the playoffs, tallying nine (6g, 3a), but he still felt a ton of responsibility for the loss.
There are going to be a lot of questions about this group as we head into the offseason. Chris Drury and the front office went all in this season, but it wasn't enough.
How will this team get reconstructed for the 2023-24 season? It is becoming clear that in order to win in today's NHL, you need to have team speed. It was clear as day that this was the factor that the Rangers were lacking in this series against the speedy, skilled Devils.
Though it's disappointing, this will be another learning lesson for a group that knows they can compete for a Stanley Cup. Next season will mark 30 years since the organization last hoisted Lord Stanley.
It will be a long offseason, but you can expect a ton of changes.
Thank you everyone for a great season, see you in October.