from Larry Brooks of the New York Post,
The ending did not change, except it came one round earlier this time, one period and one game shy of the Stanley Cup final to which the Rangers had vowed to return from the moment they were beaten in Los Angeles 50 weeks ago to the night.
The ending did not change, but the mood in the locker room following Friday’s 2-0 Game 7 defeat to the Lightning in the Eastern Conference final could not have been more different.
For where a year ago there were tears, despair and excruciating pain, this time there was shared numbed acceptance of the team’s fate. This team that had come so far still had so far to go and couldn’t get there.
“I don’t feel mad, angry or sad,” Derek Stepan told The Post. “It just sucks right now. It just sucks.”
Game 7 at the Garden with Henrik Lundqvist was supposed to be a Sure Thing. But there are no sure things in pro sports — as Mariano Rivera’s misadventure on the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series in Arizona can attest.
There are no sure things when a team comes up with no goals.
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