Rangers keep crashing after Artemi Panarin trade with ‘unacceptable’ shutout loss to Hurricanes
NY Post
The Artemi Panarin trade has completely taken the rest of the intrigue and the energy out of the Garden.
With the Panarin saga finally reaching a conclusion with his trade to the Kings, the Rangers played their final game before the NHL break for the Winter Olympics — and the corresponding league-wide roster freeze — with the knowledge that their devolving season eventually will resume with more work to do for general manager Chris Drury to retool the roster for 2026-27 and beyond.
That pre-Olympic finale Thursday night only represented more of the same for the crashing Blueshirts, however, as they fell for the fourth straight game without Panarin with a sleepy 2-0 loss to the Hurricanes at the Garden.
It marked the ninth time they have been shut out this season — and inexplicably, the seventh time on home ice — and head coach Mike Sullivan wasn’t pleased with the effort.
“I thought they outplayed us. … The first two periods weren’t nearly good enough,” Sullivan said afterward. “My message to the group was, I will acknowledge that we’re in a little bit of a difficult circumstance and none of us really want to be in this position. … But the reality is we are where we are.
“I thought tonight that we lacked a certain competitive spirit. It’s simply unacceptable on our part.”
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