Recap: Rangers out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs

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Isabella Italiano // The Chief

“Square off”: The Rangers play the Hurricanes at the Garden

Teams are battling it out in each round while fans impatiently sit at the edge of their seats to see if their favorite team will win and advance. One single game or one single goal can be the reason why a team emerges victorious, or walks away with nothing.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs are nearing an end. The Playoffs start off with sixteen teams in the first round. Each round consists of seven games, so whichever team in each round wins four games first advances to the next round. The location of these games alternate between the home ice of each opponent within the seven games. The team with the home ice advantage plays games one and two. They are awarded this advantage according to their regular season record.

In the first round, there were eight games played by these sixteen teams. In game one, many teams advanced from winning the sixth game out of seven.

These include the Rangers, who eliminated the Canadiens, the Ottawa Senators, who eliminated the Boston Bruins, the Washington Capitals, who defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Edmonton Oilers who defeated the San Jose Sharks.

For the other games in round one, many teams were found defeating their opponents in few games. For example, the Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in five games, and the St. Louis Blues defeated the Minnesota Wild in five games as well.

But in two games in round one, it was a four game sweep. The Anaheim Ducks defeated the Calgary Flames in four games, but there was a game in round one much more significant. A very important game within the playoffs was when the Nashville Predators defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in a four game sweep as well. This was the first time ever in NHL history when an eighth seeded team swept a playoff series against the top seed in the conference.

In round two, the Penguins eliminated the Capitals, the Predators advanced against the Blues, and the Ducks won against the Oilers. Yet, one of the most popular games in round two was the matchup of the Senators against the Rangers.

The Senators defeated the Rangers in six games, to the discontent of many Ranger fans. The Rangers were down two games in the series, but won games three and four, which tied them with the Senators and gave them hope to advance. The Senators won the last two games, each one more intense than the last, eliminating the Rangers from their chance at winning the Stanley Cup.

There are many reasons that the Rangers lost the final game.

“It has a lot to do with the pressure they face as that they are a very popular team and they always want to live up to the standard.” sophomore and Ranger fan Gianna Gucciardo said.

They also could have been too confident, so Ottawa’s goals could have taken them by surprise. This could have ruined their mindsets and playing ability.

For next year, the Rangers could also improve on many things to help them get closer to winning.  One example is that they can improve their defense.

“A goalie can only do so much. It’s up to the defense to prevent it from getting to the goal,” Gianna said.

Even though the shooting aspect is very different in a game than practice, “There can be more preparation for the different situations.”

Moving on within the competition, the Senators were in the conference finals (round three).

There were four teams left, including the Penguins, who went against the Senators, and the Predators who competed against the Ducks. The Predators and the Penguins have advanced to be the last two teams in the Playoffs. As of June 2nd, they have competed against each other in two games, the Penguins victorious in both.

“I predict that the Penguins will win like last year,” sophomore Julia Rodriguez said.

No matter what team wins, the last five games to come will be intense and exciting. We will just have to wait and see who comes out on top and wins the Stanley Cup trophy.

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