from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,

And so it ends.

It ends for the 2016-17 Rangers with Tuesday’s second-round, Game 6, 4-2 defeat to Ottawa at the Garden through which, almost unforgivably, the Senators were the ones to exhibit the desperation of a team facing elimination.

It ends for this group that exceeded expectations throughout a 102-point regular season and the six-game, first-round victory over the Canadiens but did not live up to them against Ottawa, and not by a long shot.

It ends with a thud.

Ends with a dud.

And as this 22nd straight season without a Stanley Cup championship ends, this least defensible playoff series defeat of the Henrik Lundqvist Era all but certainly will mark the end of the core group featuring the King, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan that has been intact since midway through 2010-11 and was augmented by Chris Kreider, Rick Nash and Mats Zuccarello by 2012-13.

Changes will be made.

Everything will be on the table.

continued

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