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Rangers just not good enough

Arthur Staple

11:58 AM EDT, April 30, 2008

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Just not good enough.

It's the four-word phrase that will haunt the Rangers for a third consecutive season. They have set a new standard for the franchise, which is admirable, considering the pre-lockout depths to which the Rangers sank.

But now that they consider themselves competent enough in the front office and talented enough on the ice to play with the big boys, that phrase will be the legacy of this season.

And it's not simply the talent gap between the Rangers' best and the Penguins' best. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin -- the latter has proven to be arguably the better player this series -- are two of the NHL's best under-25 guys, and the Penguins' young, less-talented players, kids like Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy and Kris Letang, fill their roles very well.

So do many of the Rangers' kids, guys who we all praised for their poise and grit and exuberance in the mop-up of the Devils. Besides Jaromir Jagr, Ryan Callahan has been the Rangers' best forward in these playoffs, and Marc Staal has emerged as not just the future No. 1 defenseman, but the current No. 1.

Nigel Dawes, Dan Girardi and Fedor Tyutin have all struggled mightily, though. Ryan Hollweg won't see the ice again after the game-changing penalty, a no-doubt call for a hit from behind on Petr Sykora that sucked the life out of everyone in the Garden Tuesday night, save the Penguins.

The gap is not huge, but it's enough. Henrik Lundqvist has allowed 12 goals in three games, not the level of play we've become accustomed to. Jagr has been brilliant, but when he elevates his game the way he has this last month, he doesn't always have the pieces to keep up. He set up Martin Straka half a dozen times in front of the Pittsburgh net Tuesday night, and Straka tipped every one an inch or two wide.

And Jagr's last game as a Ranger is days away, it seems, so things will be very different in 2008-09. Brendan Shanahan, out of gas for the entire series, is a goner too. Same for Straka, in all likelihood. In this NHL, change comes quickly.

The Penguins will look vastly different too. They went for broke at the trade deadline in February, acquiring Hal Gill, Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis. They will get their new arena and have Crosby and Malkin for at least a few more years to come, but they will be building around a new group of supporting players thanks to the salary cap.

That doesn't matter to the Rangers. Glen Sather - with more assistance from Tom Renney than should be necessary for the coach - has passed up chances to trade prospects and draft picks for players like Hossa at the deadline each of the last three seasons, choosing to build with youth and some big-ticket free agents.

It's worked, but only to a point. In 2005-06, the first year post-lockout, Jagr carried everyone and couldn't do it in the first playoff round against the Devils. Last season, a sweep of the overmatched Thrashers was followed by a letdown against a better (but not by much) Sabres team.

The Sabres, unable to retain their core in the offseason, missed the playoffs this year. The Rangers continued their steady pace, and dispatched the Devils with ease.

But, once again, they've hit the wall against a team not vastly superior, but better. The Rangers are just not good enough, which isn't a damning statement, but it isn't exactly a T-shirt slogan, either.