The 2023-24 season has come to an end for the New York Rangers as they fell in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final to the Florida Panthers. This is the second time they have lost in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final in the past three seasons, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. It was a season where it truly felt like it was Stanley Cup or bust and the Rangers once again fell short of ending the 30-year Stanley Cup drought.
This Rangers team felt like they could be the team to win it all. They had a historic regular season and played very well through the first two rounds of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but once they played a team that was better than them in all aspects besides goaltending, they just couldn’t find a way to overcome the adversity. Now, with the season over, we are going to look back on this season and ask the question, was it a success or was it a failure because they didn’t reach the goal of winning a Stanley Cup?
A Presidents’ Trophy-Winning Regular Season
After getting embarrassed in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs and losing in the first round to the New Jersey Devils, the Rangers entered the 2023-24 season with a chip on their shoulder. They wanted to prove that the way they played against the Devils was not how they would be playing moving forward. They moved on from Gerard Gallant and hired Peter Laviolette as his replacement. This hiring proved to be a smart one as the Rangers went on to have the best regular season in franchise history. They finished with 55 wins and 114 points to clinch the Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the regular season.
Leading the way in the regular season was Artemi Panarin. After coming off a playoff performance with just one assist in seven games, he was determined to come back and be a more effective player. He was all that and more, as he went on to score 49 goals and 120 points, setting new career highs having the most points in a season by a Ranger since Jaromir Jagr in the 2005-06 season. He was also helped by his linemates, Vincent Trocheck and Alexis Lafreniere, who both had career seasons. Lafreniere finally had his breakout season, scoring 28 goals and 57 points, while Trocheck scored 25 goals and 77 points. They were the best line for the Rangers and they helped lead the way to a historic regular season.
Yet Another Eastern Conference Final Loss
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