Rangers vs. Hurricanes: Sweet Release
An embarrassing season's playoff pursuit ends in another embarrassing loss and a dubious, embarrassing distinction. Embarrassing!
- Well, it's finished. The slim hopes the New York Rangers had entering this game to still make the playoffs was extinguished by the Carolina Hurricanes. Even though the Rangers' elimination was all but a foregone conclusion, I'm sure the Hurricanes (and their fans) enjoyed driving the final nail into the coffin of this Rangers' season.
- In one (or several) of the very first episodes of the podcast, I said something would have to go catastrophically wrong this season for the Rangers to miss the playoffs. Joke's on me, huh? I really suffered from a failure of imagination.
- Yes, I know, I know. I said I wouldn't talk about lineups as long as Peter Laviolette was the man filling them out. But I think this game's lineup merits a few comments. Gabe Perreault was scratched for the second consecutive game. So was Brennan Othmann. Laviolette had this to say:
Lavi said the decision to scratch Othmann was based on wanting another center. Said he's liked Mika on the wing with JT Miller and wanted to move Brodzinski up to 1RW since he's been one of their top scorers in the last 20 games. That's why he turned to Parssinen at 3C. #NYR
— Vince Z. Mercogliano (@vzmercogliano) April 12, 2025
- These aren't the reasons Laviolette made the lineup choices he did. He did it for two very obvious reasons: 1) Old-man hockey coaches like him, who don't understand or appreciate winner's bias, don't ever change the lineup after a win; and 2) the Rangers still statistically had a chance to make the playoffs, even if it was barely more than a 1 percent chance, and this is his "desperately trying to win" lineup. These are the players he trusts, for reasons that escape me and should escape anyone who has watched this team. We should be horrified that this is the group that Laviolette thinks gives him the best chance to win a game. But we shouldn't be surprised, because this is just who Laviolette is.
- How much point is there in talking about the actual game? It doesn't really matter, does it? It barely mattered when we woke up yesterday morning, and it certainly doesn't matter now that it's over and the Rangers have officially been eliminated from playoff contention. But let's take a look at three moments that are anecdotes from this game that really sum up this whole season.
