Brighter days almost certainly are ahead for the New York Rangers. Just don’t tell that to head coach David Quinn, quite yet.
The New York Rangers’ bench boss was in no mood after his young team’s season ended with a 4-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The loss was New York’s third in as many games in the best-of-five Stanley Cup Qualifier, one that sent the Blueshirts home until next season and Carolina to the first round of the playoffs.
The Rangers (37-28-5 in the regular season) had 11 players make their playoff debuts in this series, including goalie Igor Shesterkin. The 24-year-old, who went 10-2 in the weeks before the NHL paused play in March, made his first playoff start on Tuesday after being deemed “unfit to play” for games one and two of the series.
“I don’t view this as a good experience in any way, shape, or form,” Quinn said during MSG Network’s postgame. “Maybe when the dust settles and the emotions subside, you look back at this season and last two, three weeks that we’ve been together and think ‘Okay, we’ll continue to move forward as an organization.’ But that’s certainly not how I feel today.”
Shesterkin held his own, stopping 27 of 30 shots and making several fabulous saves. However, not even a switch from veteran and future Hall of Famer Henrik Lundqvist could thwart the Hurricanes. Ironically, Carolina gave 32-year-old James Reimer his first playoff start in seven years after dominating the first two games with Petr Mrazek between the pipes.
Reimer basically stood on his head, as the Rangers played their best hockey of the series, particularly in the first two periods. Quinn said Shesterkin played well but quickly added: “Igor played well. Certainly, our goaltending wasn’t our problem in this series. I mean our offense … we scored four goals. Four goals in three games — you’re not gonna win a series doing that. Our goaltending was the least of our problems.”