Better Days Coming for the Panthers and Rangers. They Can’t Get Much Worse
Peter Joneleit/Icon Sportswire Two years ago, the Florida Panthers beat the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference final en route to the franchise’s first of two straight Stanley Cup championships. Fast forward to today, and both teams are going through seasons they would prefer to forget. The Rangers were the NHL Presidents’ Trophy winners two years ago, although their 115 points did not get them past the Panthers.
Last year, they failed to qualify for the playoffs; the Rangers have the distinction of being the second team mathematically eliminated from the playoffs in the this one. Vancouver is the only team with fewer points. The Panthers are, technically, still the two-time defending Stanley Cup champs but there will be no third defense of the title.
Like the Rangers, the Panthers will not make the playoffs. The reasons are much different. Devastating injuries to key players from Day 1 signaled this could be a long and frustrating season.
Sam Bennett missed Saturday’s 5-2 loss to the Islanders becoming the 13th player from Game 6 of last summer’s Stanley Cup Final win who is either currently out or missed significant time this season. The Panthers have lost 433 man-games to injury this season to date. Last year’s total: 133.
The Rangers’ downfall over the past year was for a multitude of other reasons. Last season, some of the veterans did not perform as expected and were traded. Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba are on top of the list but there were others.
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