from Dave Hutchinson of the Star Ledger,

The mood was visibly gloomy as a handful of Rangers went through the paces during an optional skate Tuesday morning at Madison Square Garden, the reality of a 3-0 deficit to the Los Angeles Kings in the Stanley Cup Final staring them in the face.

Afterwards, their half-empty locker room had the feel of a funeral. Faces were long. Voices were low.

“Excuse us if today we’re not real cheery, but tomorrow I can tell you we’re going to show up,” Rangers coach Alain Vigneault said.

While the Rangers are down, they insist they’re not out. They’ve watched the Kings rally from a 3-0 hole against San Jose and they themselves battled back from a 3-1 disadvantage against Pittsburgh.

continued

added 3:45pm, from Katie Strang of ESPNNewYork,