The New York Rangers entered the postseason as the reigning NHL President’s Trophy award champions with the best regular-season record in 2024. However, this served them for nothing in the first game, a loss, of their Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Florida Panthers.
Facing a rugged and ruthless Panthers team, the Rangers lost 3-0 in Game 1 on Thursday, May 22, and franchise legend Mark Messier commented on the one thing New York should fix going forward.
“It seems to me they are playing a little bit careful, conservative… They gotta get themselves emotional,” Messier said during the second intermission of Game 1 on May 22. “Maybe they should think about having [Matt] Rempe in the lineup.”
Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette reintroduced forward Filip Chytil in his team’s lineup after he missed Games 4, 5, and 6 of the second-round series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Matt Rempe, for what’s worth, only played in Games 1, 2, and 5 although he barely logged six minutes of playing time in that final game while logging a total of 17:10 minutes across the three matches.
Mark Messier Thinks the Rangers Need More Physical Presence
Although Rempe isn’t the finest of players, he is known for being a Madison Square Garden favorite, for his physicality, and for his forecheck.
Messier thinks that combination could help New York. Additionally, this is a much tougher matchup for the Rangers, who dealt easily with the Washington Capitals in the first round and faced a finesse-like team in Carolina in the second round.
“I’m not questioning the coach,” Messier said midway through Game 1 on May 22. “But I am saying [Rempe] does get in on the forecheck. He does ground and pound. He does get the crowd involved and the players seem to follow that kind of mindset.
“Right now they’re playing, in my opinion, they’re a little too careful.”
In Game 1, the Panthers shut out the Rangers at MSG for the first time in New York’s playoff contests since 2016 and for the first time overall (including regular-season games) since December 2022, according to the New York Post’s Michael Blinn.
Filip Chytil Didn’t Quite Work in Place of Matt Rempe
Laviolette had all four bottom-of-the-order forwards available for Game 1 against the Panthers. That foursome included Rempe, Chytil, Jonny Brodzinski, and Blake Wheeler. Chytil got the nod, with Laviolette choosing him above the other three.
Chytil, however, didn’t feature in the fourth line as the “true” 12th forward of the team. Chytil played for the most part in the third line. That threesome featured him along with Alex Wennberg and Kaapo Kakko. The fourth line featured Will Cuylle, Barclay Goodrow, and Jimmy Vesey.
That said, the Rangers went down 1-0 when Matthew Tkachuk scored the first goal at 16:26 of the first period. Laviolette started shuffling his lineups midway through the second period. He moved Chytil to the top line with Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad. The change reverted to the original lines in the third frame.
Chytil didn’t appear on the ice after the clock hit 4:22 in the final stanza. However, coach Laviolette removed all doubt about his availability and a potential injury following the game.
“We ended up double-shifting our guys quite a bit to try and chase that goal,” Laviolette said after the game, per USA Today’s Vince Mercogliano.
Rangers Start Eastern Conference Finals Down 0-1
New York lost a postseason game for the third time in the last four matches–two against the Hurricanes, and Thursday’s Game 1 at MSG. That doesn’t bode well for the Rangers, who have already lost home-ice advantage against the Panthers.
Conversely, Florida has won back-to-back games and four of their last five, including Thursday’s with a final score of 3-0 (including an empty-net goal) in Game 1 at New York.
“I think we can play better. I don’t think that was the best version of ourselves,” Laviolette told reporters in his postgame press conference on May 22. “And so we’ll look to what they did, see what we can do better in all areas of the game.
“I think there’s more for us to give, and more for us to do out there. Game 1 didn’t go our way and now we’ll have to focus on Game 2 and make that the priority.”
Following Tkachuk’s lead, Carter Verhaeghe and Sam Bennett also scored for the Panthers. Florida’s netminder Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 shots. Improving on that figure, Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin finished with 24 saves. Despite it, Shesterkin earned the loss.
Like Heavy.com’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy.com
The post Mark Messier Advises 1 Simple Change for ‘Too Careful’ Rangers appeared first on Heavy.com.