The Rangers recorded an NHL-best 55 wins and 114 points and opened the postseason with seven straight wins, but lost 3-2 to the Panthers with 60 minutes remaining in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers finally scored their first points of the series on Chris Kreider’s first goal of the night, and despite another strong performance from Igor Shesterkin (34 saves) and Alexis Lafreniere’s fourth goal of the series, they have now lost their seventh straight Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals and are trailing in the series, including five losses at the Garden (1994, 2012, 2015, 2022).
The Rangers have not lost such a series since 1994, when Mark Messier guaranteed a Game 6 in New Jersey and Stephane Matteau sealed a Game 7.
Kreider’s shorthanded goal was the team’s sixth of the season and most in the last 16 years. It gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead just two minutes into the second period, but the Panthers quickly answered back with a backhanded goal by Gustav Forsling off a neat no-look pass from Sam Bennett.
Anton Lundell’s goal with 9:38 left gave the Panthers the lead.
The teams are scheduled to meet in Game 6 on Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC) in Florida, where the Rangers and Panthers shared an overtime win earlier this week.
Comparisons are often made to the Rangers’ recent run, when they won the Cup in 1994, but now there’s another similarity: The Presidents Trophy winner will be leaving home for what could be the final game of the season.
Is there anyone who can vouch for me?
Today’s back cover
Being environmentally friendly is easy
It’s unclear why the Celtics are back in the NBA Finals: Is it because they were the top team in the league during the regular season, or because they’ve had a historically favorable path in the Eastern Conference?
Their luck began when the bracket was set. There was a three-win gap between the No. 2 and No. 7 seeds. Boston was the head of the underdogs, knowing they would only face one of the biggest threats (Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia).
In the end, the Celtics didn’t run into any of them, benefiting from having the best player in the conference (Giannis Antetokounmpo) and half the Knicks’ roster injured.
Instead, they faced the Heat, who had beaten the Celtics in two of the past four Eastern Conference Finals and even beat them by seven games in 2022, but the Heat were without their best player (Jimmy Butler). A tense series with Cleveland went to the wire in five games because the Cavs’ best player (Donovan Mitchell) missed the final two games. And an Eastern Conference Finals that featured two three-point wins and an overtime win ended in a sweep because the Pacers lost their best player (Tyrese Haliburton) for the final two games.
Even with a full roster, the Celtics might have ended up just four wins away from their first championship since 2008. They led the league with 64 wins and had home-court advantage on a floor where they were 37-4 in the regular season.
But dominance during the regular season is no longer as important as it once was.
Since 2006, only five of the 12 teams that have won 64 or more wins in a season have won an NBA title. Prior to that, 10 of the 13 teams that won 64 or more wins went on to win championships.
The Celtics’ run will culminate in the NBA Finals against the No. 5 seeded Mavericks, the first time in seven years that a championship game will be played between teams separated by double digits in regular-season wins. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving each scored 36 points to defeat the league’s best defense, 124-103, on Thursday night in Minnesota to win their first Western Conference championship since 2011.
It feels like a run that gets less respect, that gets crowned with an asterisk, but it will fade away, and that’s how most title wins happen these days.
Last year, the Nuggets made it through the final two rounds against the seventh and eighth seeds. In 2021, the Bucks won Game 7 in Brooklyn with Irving injured and James Harden playing on one leg. In 2020, the Lakers won the title after Jamal Murray’s injury in the bubble and against the fifth-seeded Heat in the Finals. In 2019, the Raptors ended the Warriors’ dream of a three-peat after Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson were injured in the Finals. In 2018, the 65-win Rockets were leading 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals before losing the series after Chris Paul left with a hamstring injury. In 2016, the Cavs pulled off an unprecedented comeback win after Draymond Green’s controversial Game 5 suspension. In 2015, the Warriors won their first title with Stephen Curry behind them against a Cavaliers team that was thin on the roster and missing Irving and Kevin Love.
The Celtics will be favored in the Finals. Their net rating (11.6) is tied with the 2016-17 Warriors for the third-highest in league history, trailing only Michael Jordan’s Bulls in 1995-96 and 1996-97. Brad Stevens has hit back-to-back home runs with the acquisitions of July Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, elevating the perennial championship contenders into one of the most well-rounded and consistent teams in the league.
But their greatest strength may be their health.
While the Celtics have reached the Eastern Conference Finals in four of the past five seasons with their top two players available each spring (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown), it was easy to imagine a number of players missing or limited during the postseason (Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, Zion Williamson, OG Anunoby).
The Celtics seemed to come away with victories after many close calls.
With nine days of rest before Game 1 of the NBA Finals in Boston and Porzingis expected to return from a calf injury, it looks like it will be easier than ever for them to win a title.
But the truth is, the Celtics will probably get a few more chances thanks to their good fortune of being led by two reliable stars in their mid-20s playing in the league’s weaker conference.
Outside of the Knicks, who looked like they had upset potential before the injuries and are set to improve in the offseason, who else in the East poses a threat to Boston?
The Bucks’ supporting cast is aging and starting to wear off. Embiid gets hurt every spring. The Magic are inexperienced. The Cavs are falling apart. The Heat are already peaking. The Pacers’ defense isn’t ready for prime time.
The Mavericks stand out from the crowd because of their shooters, size, athleticism, coaching, late-game shooting ability and the best players on the court.
The Celtics’ run through the Eastern Division has been a joke. The Finals will be anything but a joke.
Next up: the Mets’ changeup
Jorge Lopez has regrets.
The former Mets relief pitcher, who was designated for dismissal Thursday for throwing his glove into the Citi Field stands after being ejected in Wednesday’s loss, said immediately after the game that he didn’t regret his actions. But Lopez now wishes he’d done over his controversial postgame interview, in which it’s unclear whether the Puerto Rican declared himself “the worst teammate in the entire league” or part of “probably the worst team in all of MLB.”
“First and foremost, I apologize to my teammates, coaching staff, fans and front office,” Lopez said in a statement. “I feel I let everyone down on and off the field yesterday. I also want to be clear about my comments after the game, as I did not intend to disparage the New York Mets organization. During the interview, I was forthright in expressing my dissatisfaction with my performance and how I feel it made me the worst teammate in the entire league.
“Unfortunately, my efforts to reach out to the media in English have led to confusion and have produced headlines that do not reflect what I was trying to convey.”
The Mets came from behind to beat the Diamondbacks 3-2 on Thursday night to end a three-game losing streak, but Pete Alonso was not in the starting lineup. But a CT scan showed Alonso had no broken bones in his right hand after being hit by a fastball on Wednesday, and he hit a game-winning double as a pinch hitter, allaying concerns he might be out for a long time.
Francisco Lindor, who called Wednesday’s players-only meeting, went 4-for-4 at-bats.
June Madness
Nothing is more absent from New York sports than FBS teams.
In this land of once-thriving college basketball, perhaps no demise of the local game is more heartbreaking than the 20 years since a men’s team from any New York borough or suburb had won a March Madness game.
But with the NCAA baseball tournament starting Friday, attention will be focused on two New York schools as the region’s latest unexpected performers.
No. 3 St. John’s University (37-16-1) will open its tournament on Friday night (7 p.m. ET, ESPN+) against No. 2 Mississippi State (38-21) in a Charlottesville regional that also features No. 1 Virginia and No. 4 Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, No. 4 Long Island University (33-23) will host No. 1 North Carolina (42-13) in Chapel Hill (6 p.m. ET, ESPN+) after No. 2 Louisiana State and No. 3 Wofford College open the double-elimination regional.
The Red Storm are making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2018 and their 11th since 2004, while the Sharks clinched their second berth in three years by winning the Northeast Conference championship.
It’s been 12 years since Stony Brook University made an incredible run to the College World Series, becoming the only New York team to make it to Omaha since 1980 (St. John’s University).
But other local schools have made inroads in the tournament in recent years: Columbia University and St. John’s University reached the regional finals in 2015, and the Lions are set to do so again in 2022.
We don’t expect it to happen again this year, nor can we rule out the possibility.
Today’s Outlook
Ronald Hernandez put the exclamation point on a great May.
The Mets’ promising catching prospect hit a home run in a 2-for-5 game for Single-A St. Lucie on Thursday.
Hernandez, acquired last summer in the David Robertson trade, is off to an inauspicious start in April 2024, batting just .194.
But this month, the 20-year-old Venezuelan is batting .370/.433/.494 with five extra-base hits.
— Andrew Battifarano
What we’re reading 👀
⚾ The Yankees (39-19) overpowered the Angels behind phenomenal pitching from Aaron Judge after up-and-coming starting pitcher Clark Schmidt was placed on the long-term disabled list.
⚾ The Washington Post’s Mike Vaccaro writes that it’s up to Mets owner Steve Cohen to finally reverse the team’s reputation for embarrassing slapstick, which intensified on Wednesday.
⚾ What would the Mets get if they were to sell out, starting with Pete Alonso? Jon Heyman of The Washington Post explains.
🏈 Drew Lock entertained reporters with a mixture of respect and confidence as he talked about his past and accepted the Giants’ backup QB job: “Whenever that time comes, if it comes, I’ll be ready.”
🏀 The Washington Post’s Phil Muschnick recalls the Bill Walton he knew as an “old-fashioned social conservative.”
⛳ Nelly Korda’s U.S. Women’s Open collapsed in dramatic fashion.
🏀 Caitlin Clark currently leads the WNBA in technical fouls.
⚽ The biggest club football match of the year Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will face off in the Champions League final on Saturday.
🏀 Drew Gordon, former NBA forward and older brother of Nuggets star Aaron Gordon, has died in a car accident at the age of 33.
