Recap: Rangers Officially Eliminated from Postseason in 4-3 Loss to Toronto

With eleven games to go on the season, the New York Rangers paid a visit to the Toronto Maple Leafs. While the season has been over for quite some time now, the Rangers came into this one on the brink of being officially eliminated from the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. As they continue to take inventory on what they have moving forward, the Rangers debuted another prospect as Adam Sykora played in his first NHL game. 

Sykora would slot in on the second line alongside Will Cuylle and Vincent Trocheck. Additionally, Vincent Iorio would slot back in on defense with Connor Mackey going back to Hartford. 

First Period

The Rangers had one third the amount of shots they had in the entire game against the Ottawa Senators earlier in the week after the first couple of shifts in tonight’s outing. However, it wouldn’t keep them from giving up the early lead as just over five minutes into play, the Leafs found the back of the net. Matias Maccelli pulled off a spin-a-rama move in front of the net that Igor Shesterkin turned away but the rebound came out to Jake McCabe at the point who had plenty of net to shoot at. 1-0 Toronto. 

By the midway mark of the opening period, the Rangers officially surpassed their shots on goal total from the Ottawa game. Two minutes later, the Leafs were back on the board. A Will Borgen turnover resulted in a chance off the rush as Max Domi dished the puck ahead to Nick Robertson who beat Shesterkin with a quick shot on goal, 2-0 game. 

With three minutes to go in the period, Matthew Robertson was called for the first penalty of the night as he was called for holding Easton Cowen. The Rangers have struggled on the penalty kill as of late but managed to come out of it unscathed as they would trail 2-0 heading into the first intermission. Shots after twenty minutes were 14-10 in the Rangers favor.

Second Period

The Rangers got a chance on the power play just 80 seconds into the period as Dakota Joshua went after Tye Kartye following a clean hit Kartye delivered seconds prior. The Rangers did a good job of maintaining possession but of course didn’t generate much offense in the process as the Leafs continued to keep them off the board. This became a bit of a theme as the period went on but with 14 minutes to go, they’d give up another goal. 

Off the rush, Maccielli backhanded a pass over to Joshua who let a laser of a wrist shot go off the post and in to make it a 3-0 game. 

Not a ton was going great for the Rangers in this one but Adam Sykora was looking good in his first couple of shifts in the NHL. After one in particular, a brief scrum broke out in front of the net which resulted in Trocheck taking a cross check to the throat from Simon Benoit. Sending the Rangers back to the power play, J.T. Miller gave Alexis Lafrenière a pass in front that he pulled back towards the net to spoil the shutout Justin Holl was working towards. Lafrenière’s 21st of the season brought the Rangers within two, making it a 3-1 game. 

The Rangers got another power play chance with three minutes to go as Oliver Ekman-Larsson was called for slashing. The top unit continued to control possession and midway through the advantage, Lafrenière set up Mika Zibanejad at the doorstep to tuck one home for his 31st of the season to bring the Rangers within one. Zibanejad is now in sole possession of fourth place on the franchise's all time goals list.

That would do it for the second as the Rangers were behind in the game 3-2 after forty minutes of play. Shots heading into the second intermission were 31-14 Rangers.

Third Period

It was a lower event start to the third period but there was still pretty good pace from both sides through the first half of the action. Closer to the midway point, Braden Schneider was called for holding to send the Leafs back to the power play. The Leafs dominated the advantage and the Rangers got some help from Shesterkin to whether the storm as they continued to trail by one midway through the third.

With eight minutes to go, another turnover cost the Rangers as Will Cuylle could not control a floating puck in the offensive zone. This led to a rush for John Tavares who walked right in and fired a shot past Shesterkin to make it a 4-2 game. Not the best night for Shesterkin who allowed three shots off the rush in a similar capacity.

However just 67 seconds later, a fantastic passing play from the Rangers' top line resulted in Zibanejad picking up his second of the night. Lafrenière found Gabe Perreault across the neutral zone who set Zibanejad up with a perfect saucer pass to make it a 4-3 game. Two goal night for Zibanejad, Lafrenière with a three point outing.

With under two minutes to go, Borgen blocked a hard shot form McCabe that left him laying on the ice in a great deal of pain. Play continued as Lafrenière came close to a breakaway requiring Woll to make a big save to hold onto Toronto's lead. After which, the Rangers pulled Shesterkin for the extra attacker as they tried to tied the game for the first time this evening.

With 19 seconds left on the clock, Perreault was cross checked from behind which gave the Rangers a 6-on-4 advantage to close out regulation. That became enough time for Zibanejad to get one more shot for his team but the Leafs fought it off and held on to their 4-3 lead. Despite the Rangers generating over 40 shots on goal, they couldn't pull off a win as their chances at playoffs are officially over.

The Rangers will be back at it Friday night as they'll host the Chicago Blackhawks for another original six matchup.