SUNRISE, Fla. – The parallels to 1994 are impossible to ignore.
Much like the current Rangers, the last New York team to win a championship also fell to a 3-2 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Even if you weren’t there to see it, I imagine you heard the story.
Mark Messier stole the show by securing a victory (of sorts) in Game 6, then scoring a hat trick in the third period to force a dramatic Game 7 against the New Jersey Devils. Mike Richter also stood out, stopping 59 of the 62 shots he faced in the last two games, while Brian Leetch and Alex Kovalev scored three points each in those games to complete the comeback.
With their season teetering on the brink, New York’s stars shined and kept the Stanley Cup dream alive for a city that was missing one.
If the modern-day Blueshirts are to follow this path to the Canyon of Heroes, they’ll need similar heroics from their best players.
It will be a tough challenge against a Florida Panthers team that has been downright better than them in five games, most recently in Thursday’s 3-2 Game 5 victory.
Takeaways from Game 5:Rangers pushed to the brink of elimination by Panthers
The main reason the Rangers are still playing is due to the herculean efforts of Igor Shesterkin, who has been by far their best player and helped steal overtime victories in Games 2 and 3. But to win twice in a row against the fierce Cats, starting With Game 6 Saturday at 8 p.m. in Florida, he’s going to need more support.
Vincent Trocheck has done his part as New York’s most consistent skater throughout these playoffs, while Barclay Goodrow and Alexis Lafrenière have also made key contributions of late. Even Chris Kreider, who had been shut out in the first four games of the series, awoke from his slumber with a short-handed goal in Game 5. But there are a handful of others who have been stifled by a Panthers team that seems built for these moments.
The following three players played vital roles in the Presidents’ Trophy season, but they will face an offseason of criticism and questions if they fail to rekindle some of that magic when it matters most.
Adam Fox
Rumors of the former Norris Trophy winner playing with an undisclosed injury have spread, and it’s hard to argue that something doesn’t seem right.
Fox was never the fastest skater, but he looked slower than usual and was caught off guard in a few costly situations. He also doesn’t carry the puck with his usual flair and has made some questionable decisions in turning down hopeful passes rather than using his feet to let plays develop. And while the 26-year-old has never been the most physical player on the ice, his commitment to puck battles has been noticeably lacking.
There have been flashes, like his spin pass to set up Lafrenière’s tying goal in Game 4, but his savvy playmaking ability has been far too inconsistent. The result is just seven assists in 15 playoff games, including three in five against Florida.
There is no chance that head coach Peter Laviolette will remove his best defenseman from the lineup at this point, nor should he. But reducing his time on ice by a team-high 23:57 per game could allow Fox to maximize the shifts he gets.
It’s not the craziest idea to consider dressing Zac Jones as a seventh defenseman to help ease that burden. That seems more useful than four teams and 2:43 TOI for Matt Rempe, which is all the rookie forward got in Game 5.
Artémi Panarin
There have been defining moments for the 2023-24 team MVP, with all four of his playoff goals recorded as game-winners. That has to count for something.
It’s also worth noting that Panarin’s 67.36% xGF leads the team in this series, according to Natural Stat Trick, with a 49-26 advantage in scoring chances and a 105-83 advantage in attempts shooting when he is on the ice at five against. five. But you could argue that much of that credit goes to his teammates, Trocheck and Lafreniere, with Panarin a distant third in efficiency among that trio.
The reality is that the 32-year-old has been much less visible than he was while putting up a career-high 120 points during the regular season. He hasn’t scored since Game 3 of the second round against Carolina, an eight-game drought, with just three assists in five ECF games.
It’s increasingly difficult to ignore the cries that the 6-foot, 175-pound game is designed to rack up points in the regular season but doesn’t translate well in the playoffs. As the ice tightens and the space to operate diminishes, so does its impact.
When Panarin is at his best, the puck is on his stick all the time. He attacks in transition and dances along the blue line, looking for shooting lanes or passing options that few others have the vision to identify. But how many times have you seen this happen in this series?
Credit to Florida for locking him down and limiting those dynamic streaks that seemed to happen every night throughout the regular season. But it’s also hard to imagine the Rangers winning a Cup if their most gifted offensive threat can’t find a way to raise his game.
Mika Zibanejad
Panarin is the Rangers’ best pure point producer, but Zibanejad may be their most important all-around skater.
It falls to number 93 to face the toughest matchups on both ends of the ice while playing a pivotal role on the power play and penalty kill. We ask him to do a little bit of everything, and when he sucks, so do the blue shirts.
The underlying numbers are grim. With Zibanejad on the ice 5-on-5 against Florida, New York is dominated in shooting (55-17), outshot (128-57) and out of danger (22-8) by alarming margins.
Whether against two-time Selke Trophy winner Aleksander Barkov, who has arguably been the best center in this series, or against the Panthers’ second line built around star Matthew Tkachuk, Zibanejad’s line with Kreider and fill in the blank at right wing gave way on several occasions as she struggled to generate time in the offensive zone.
There were some signs of life in Game 5, with the 31-year-old picking up two assists for his first points of the series. But he also failed to register a shot on goal and has yet to produce anything in 5-on-5 play.
Zibanejad’s status as the No. 1 center has been solidified, but he has yet to open the door to the top spot with players like Barkov and some of the best the NHL has to offer. Much like Panarin, he still needs to prove he can elevate his game against elite competition.
It’s a high level, but the championships are only for those who can climb the highest mountains in bad weather.
Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Learn more about his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.
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