It’s been five days since the Carolina Hurricanes swept the New York Rangers in three games in the 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers. The same offense that thrilled and captivated us during the 2019-20 regular season managed four goals in three games. The Rangers, who entered the season as a young and inherently flawed team, looked inexperienced, incomplete, and out-coached against Carolina.
It’s difficult to know how to feel about the 2019-20 Rangers especially because most of us are still wrapping our heads around playoff hockey in August. In the second year of David Quinn’s tenure as head coach, the Rangers finished with a record of 37-28-5 before the pandemic derailed the world of sports.