ECF ouster not ‘special’ ending Rangers expected
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Kristen Shilton, ESPN NHL reporter
SUNRISE, Fla. — The New York Rangers didn’t see this end coming.
They were the Presidents’ Trophy winners on the strength of a 114-point regular season. They breezed by the Washington Capitals and defeated the Carolina Hurricanes handily to reach an Easten Conference final against the Florida Panthers.
But that’s where it all fell apart for the Rangers, who lost 2-1 in Game 6 of their series on Saturday night, eliminated from the postseason in the third round for the second time in three seasons.
“What we built as a team here, it just felt special this year,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. “It felt like we had something in this room. It was a bond. [It’s] probably too soon to elaborate more.”
Trouba, in particular, came under fire for his performance on Saturday. New York’s rugged defenseman misread a play at his team’s blue line late in the first period, allowing Evan Rodrigues to feed Sam Bennett for Florida’s opening score.
That was Bennett fourth goal in the series, tying teammate Matthew Tkachuk‘s franchise record for most markers in a conference final in Panthers’ history. His three-game goal streak also tied a Panthers playoff record.
Trouba’s slow reaction contributed to the Rangers being in an early deficit they never overcame. Vladimir Tarasenko scored his first goal of the conference final — against the veteran’s former team to boot — midway through the third period to give Florida a 2-0 lead.
By the time Artemi Panarin notched his first of the series — with New York having already pulled goalie Igor Shesterkin — there was just 1:39 remaining. Too little, too late from one of the Rangers’ stars who had failed when it mattered most.
It wasn’t just Panarin, though. Mika Zibanejad didn’t score against Florida. He and Chris Kreider — who had one short-handed tally in the series — combined for only three shots in Game 6. And while Panarin broke through eventually, his line with Vincent Trocheck — who led the Rangers in postseason points with 20 — and Alexis Lafreniere were stymied by the Panthers all night.
New York lost on Saturday its third straight game by a single goal. Shesterkin’s excellence — he posted a .935 save percentage and a 2.25 goals-against average in the series — simply wasn’t enough to continually overcome the Rangers’ inability to get pucks past the Panthers.
“[After] one-goal games, you think about every little play, every missed opportunity, every mistake,” defenseman Adam Fox said. “It hurts. When games are that tight, it sits with you, every little play you maybe could’ve done differently.”
Shesterkin earned accolades from both dressing rooms following the loss, and Florida’s coach Paul Maurice compared the goalie’s showing to a legendary run from the NHL’s Hart Trophy winner in 2002.
“I haven’t seen a series by a goaltender like that since [former Montreal Canadiens goaltender] Jose Theodore in 2002,” Maurice said. “He was brilliant in this series. He was pretty good.”
It was the rest of New York’s lineup not providing enough backup. The Rangers never found the right formula to rattle Florida. And New York’s momentum-sucking power play didn’t help matters. The Rangers were 0-for-1 with the extra man in Game 6 and 1-for-15 in the series, a long drop from the club which held the league’s third-best power play in the regular season (26.4%) and entered the series even better (at 29.7% in the playoffs).
New York stumbled too often. And there was no comeback magic left in the Rangers — despite them having earned an NHL-record 34 come-from-behind victories in the regular season and six more in the postseason.
“They got to their game more consistently,” Kreider said. “They were dialed in on what they were doing.”
The loss could signal changes for the Rangers. It’s an unsettling feeling for New York to sit with given the promise of this season and how swiftly it ended with a thud.
“The culture we built here, the camaraderie, that’s something we’re going to have to turn over,” Fox said. “It sucks to think this year is over, but what we built is strong.”
New York hoped to be heading home for a Game 7. Instead it will return with unanswered questions about what’s next.
“Our guys fought this year; they bought in right from the start,” coach Peter Laviolette said. “We make it to this point and it’s disappointing. When you start something like this … you do it to go the whole way. So there’s a disappointment right now that sets in with our group and our intentions we had throughout the year. Nobody was expecting to be on this end of it.”
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.
In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”
Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.
The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.
Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.
Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.
“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.
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Eli Lederman, ESPN Staff Writer
Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.
Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.
“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”
Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.
Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.
Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.
Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).
When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).
With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.
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