Rangers Stars Won't 'Downshift' After Near Shot at Cup

The New York Rangers came so close to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but not close enough.

May 22, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Rangers left wing Chris Kreider (20) skates against the Florida Panthers during the first period of game one of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers are coming off a season in which they won the Presidents' Trophy with 114 points and advanced to the Eastern Conference Final for the second time in the past three years. Many would call that a successful seaosn, but for the Rangers, it was nowhere near enough.

New York's season came to a disappointing end in a six-game loss to the eventual Stanley Cup-champion Florida Panthers in the third round. This came after the Rangers took a 2-1 lead in the series, a shaky lead as both wins came in overtime, but a lead nonetheless.

For a team that believes it has what it takes to win it all, coming up just short once again is a bitter pill to swallow. So much so that one of the Rangers' biggest stars in forward Chris Kreider is still thinking about it two months later.

"I just don't think you ever downshift after that," Kreider said, per NHL.com. "Personally, I haven't really been able to, so I just think you roll right into next season and continue to get better as a team and as individuals."

Kreider, the longest-tenured Ranger after 12 seasons with the club, had the end of the season so much that he even watched the Stanley Cup Final, despite not normally doing so.

"For whatever reason I just wanted to suffer through it," Kreider said.

The Rangers looked like a potential team of destiny at points during the postseason. They won their first seven games of the postseason and the comparisons to 1994, the year they won their most recent Cup, were near endless. Then they ran into the Panthers, and everything just seemed to fall apart.

"I think that was the best team we played all year," Kreider said. "I think they had absolutely zero ego to their game. They got to their game quicker than any other team. They had complete buy-in up and down their lineup, and to a man we all knew we were right there with them. It's a game of inches so we've got to do the things right now in the offseason going into camp to make sure we come out on the other side of those close ones."

After learning their lessons and licking their wounds, the Rangers' only cure for their ailment is getting back on the ice and finishing the job this time.

"It's a super-close group, obviously not a lot of turnover, so I think everyone is in the same frame of mind," Kreider said, "just champing at the bit, ready to go."

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