New York Rangers Connections: Another bad night for former Blueshirts

Another night, another Game 7 thriller and another day to forget for former New York Rangers players involved in the postseason.

We’ve had three Game 7’s this week, two of which will go down in playoff folklore and a handful of players who once represented the New York Rangers were forced to deal with bitter disappointments.

Here’s the second edition of our Stanley Cup roundup involving former Blueshirts…

Carolina Hurricanes v Washington Capitals (4-3)

Let’s start with what turned out to be the final game of a truly bonkers Round One, where no one on the planet could have predicted the events that unfolded.

The Hurricanes, a rank underdog throughout the regular season and again in this match-up, rolled up their sleeves all series and did it again in Game Seven to stun the reigning Stanley Cup champs.

Justin Williams, aka ‘Mr. Game 7’, came up clutch yet again with a primary assist on Brock McGinn’s Double Overtime winner as the last remaining top seed in the postseason met their untimely fate.

Carolina, mirroring their first-year head coach, Rod Brind’Amour, are an absolute workhorse of a team and they will now be hoping to carry their momentum into their Second Round series against the New York Islanders.

It was a bitterly frustrating night for the Capitals and former Rangers favourite Carl Hagelin, who finished his playoffs with just one point and a plus/minus of -1.

Boston Bruins v Toronto Maple Leafs (4-3)

This fiercely contested series was a gruelling slugfest until the very end, with the Bruins’ 5-1 win in Game 7 not reflective of how close that tilt actually was.

Toronto dominated for large periods but were kept at bay by the brilliant Tuukka Rask, who had a 2.31 goals against average and a .928 save percentage in 7 games.

For the third consecutive time the Leafs were dumped out of the playoffs at the first hurdle by their bitter rivals, who will now move on as many people’s favourite to win the Stanley Cup in what is now a wide open postseason.

John Moore, who skated in 125 games for the Blueshirts between 2013-15, was held without a point in four games whilst Steven Kampfer, another former Rangers blueliner, laced up his skates for just one outing.

San Jose Sharks v Vegas Golden Knights (4-3)

Now this was a Game Seven for the ages.

There aren’t enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe this absolute clash of heavyweights with any true justice.

Holding a 3-0 lead heading into the final ten minutes of the third period, the Golden Knights looked home and dry but a cruel turn of fate turned their night upside down.

Cody Eakin was slapped with a five-minute major and a game misconduct call following a cross check on the Sharks’ Joe Pavelski, a controversial decision that acted as an almighty pendulum swing.

Fired up after seeing their leader carried off the ice, San Jose bit back emphatically with four power play goals in five minutes to send the SAP Center into pure, unbridled ecstasy.

Credit to Vegas who did pick themselves up off the floor to take the game to overtime, but it was meant to be the Sharks’ night as Barclay Goodrow buried the overtime winner.

One-time Ranger Michael Haley skated in three Round One games for the Sharks. Former Blueshirts Nick Holden was a minus two in the first game of the series and never saw action again while Brandon Pirri suited up for Game Seven and had five shots on goal.

Dallas Stars v Nashville Predators (4-2)

Let’s face it; we’re all Dallas Stars fans now.

The Stars clinched a berth in Round 2 on Monday after grinding out a 2-1 win against the Predators on home ice.

And anyone with a keen interest in the Rangers will now be pledging their allegiance to the Stars for the rest of the playoffs thanks to a certain Mats Zuccarello.

The hugely popular forward finish the series with three goals for three points and was a huge factor in Dallas’ success, adding raw speed and a bucketload of creativity to their lineup.

Rangers fans may be biased but when it comes to players who deserve a shot at lifting the Stanley Cup, Zuccarello is certainly high up on the list.  Let’s not forget about that second round pick obtained for the Norwegian that becomes a first if the Stars can make it past the Blues.

However, it wasn’t a good series for Brian Boyle and Cody McLeod, who find themselves at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of the impact they made while with the Blueshirts, with their current Nashville team enduring another disappointing early playoff exit.

Boyle missed four postseason games with an abdominal injury,  posting two points (two assists) with a +4 rating, while McLeod found himself a healthy scratch for all six games.

We will be doing another Playoff roundup next week.