Rangers Eliminated From Playoffs Following Disappointing Game 6 Loss to Ottawa

By Djack

Tough loss for the Rangers in game 6 last night. Going into the game I was certain they were going to at least extend this series to 7 games. The Rangers when they played to the best of their ability this series they were clearly the better team, only problem was they failed to be consistent throughout. Rangers made costly errors and didn't capitalize on a lot of oppurtunities all series long. Last night, all of that came to the forefront as the Rangers lost in brutal fashion to an Ottawa Senators team that has no business being in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Not even 5 minutes into the game and the Rangers were on the offensive, all the sudden Erik Karlsson blocks a shot takes it down ice the other way, does some sort of shot pass to his teammate that redirects it for a goal. Senators would score again later in the first period on a goal from Mark Stone. After the first period it was 2-0 Senators, Rangers looked pretty terrible, but there was still a ton of hockey to be played.

Second period now, the Rangers still looked a little flat, Senators were getting a lot of chances, fortunately for the Rangers they weren't finishing them. Then, Mikka Zibanejad, who has been a stud this postseason, scored a goal for the Rangers finally getting them on the board. The crowd was alive, it looked like the Rangers were right back in this game, and then Erik Karlsson struck again. Two minutes after Zibanejad scored, Rangers were on the offensive again. All the sudden Karlsson makes a stop, starts skating down the ice, passes it off to his teammate, circles back, his teammate passes it back to him, and he beats hank short side high. Senators answer right back, padding their lead by 2 goals again. 

​Kreider responded within the first minute of the third period when he scored on a breakaway with his lightning speed. Rangers trailed 3-2 with about 18 minutes left in the game, plenty of time not to just tie, but to win in regulation. The Rangers dominated the last period, seemed like every 90 seconds they'd get a good look on net. The problem was they kept missing oppurtunities. They weren't putting back the rebounds, so many missed chances for them it was hard to watch. The final chance was with about 90 seconds left, they had pulled Hank, and they were crashing the net when Zibanejad caught the puck right next to the net, he tried placing it down and shooting, ultimately just to be denied. Senators would then score soon after on the empty net. Rangers lose 4-2 and are eliminated from playoff contention as the Senators continue to march on to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Tough loss for Rangers fans, really thought this was the year the Rangers were finally going to come through and get the job done. Once again they come up short however, now they're only getting older, so it seems like the window has closed. They missed a huge opportunity in these playoffs, I mean really, look how perfectly everything was set up for their success, and then they choked it all away. They were clearly the better team in this series which is the sickening part for fans I'm sure. They just so happened to let the best player on the ice beat them and that was Erik Karlsson. Rangers once again fall short of the ultimate goal, is it time to start breaking it down and building something new, or is time to just reload, and try again?