For a majority of New York Rangers fans, the season could not end soon enough after a difficult and bleak year. The team wanted to end things on a high note heading into the offseason, but with their final game being against rival Philadelphia Flyers, the boys in orange had a different plan than the boys in blue did as Brian Elliot shut out the Rangers 5-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Injuries, trades, and some overall bad coaching cost the Rangers a very successful season, but despite that, they still managed to total seventy-seven points. Henrik Lundqvist was chosen as the team’s most valuable player by members of the media, and it was an honor well-deserved for the 36-year-old Swedish goaltender.
Now, back to Saturday. The Rangers were down 1-0 just a little over six minutes in on a goal from Ivan Provorov, and the Flyers did not look back. Michael Raffl and Claude Giroux, who netted a hat trick, also scored in the Flyers’ victory over New York. The Rangers were outshot 40-17 in this game, and no, that wasn’t a typo. Philadelphia dominated all game long, and with that win, they punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup playoffs, which begins Wednesday night.
Alternate captain and forward Mats Zuccarello told reporters after the game, “It’s a tough way to lose. It sucks, but you use the summer to work hard and get better. It’s time for this re-build and a season we’re happy with. Everyone needs to come prepared next year.”
Henrik Lundqvist also said next season is about winning and nothing else. It was one of the toughest seasons that Rangers fans had to follow, but they stood by their team through thick and thin. General manager Jeff Gorton and president Glen Sather have a lot to discuss and decisions to make in order to have the Stanley Cup at Madison Square Garden in 2019. After the game, the team decided to part ways with head coach Alain Vigneault.
