NY Rangers HC Peter Laviolette makes his thoughts extremely clear on having potentially coached his last game for Blueshirts 

By Abhilasha Aditi

Modified Apr 18, 2025 04:09 GMT

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New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette talked to the media after Thursday’s 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Peter Laviolette joined the Rangers in June 2023. He replaced former head coach Gerard Gallant and led the team to a 55-23-4 record. He helped the Rangers win the Presidents’ Trophy and became the first NHL coach to lead six teams to the playoffs.

Now, this season was disappointing to begin with. The Rangers missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2020-21 season. They are fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 85 points and a 39-36-7 record. They had a strong start, but it faded after December due to poor defense and power play issues.

When asked about his future postgame, Laviolette said he still wants to be with the Rangers.

"Well, I'm here, so that's where I'm at right now. So no, those are things I can't control," Laviolette told reporters. "Like I said before, when I think it was in Long Island, those are conversations. All conversations have come out the year certainly wasn't where it needed to be. But right now I'm here. This is where I wanted to be."

This season was different from the last as they struggled to stay consistent throughout the year. They traded captain Jacob Trouba midseason, while J.T. Miller played well after joining the team. Still, they could not recover in time.

Some positives for the Rangers include Igor Shesterkin signing an eight-year, $92 million deal, Will Cuylle registering 20 goals and 22 assists and young players like Brennan Othmann and Gabe Perreault gaining NHL experience. But there's talk about an offseason rehaul, so several players could get traded as General Manager Chris Drury plans to strengthen the team's lineup.

NY Rangers secure 4-0 win to wrap up the season

The Rangers won 4-0 against the Tampa Bay Lightning in their last regular-season game. Vincent Trocheck scored first with a short-handed goal after a pass from J.T. Miller before Chris Kreider added the second goal early in the third period. Mika Zibanejad scored the third with a one-timer and later tipped in Kreider’s shot for the fourth. Shesterkin made 27 saves for his sixth shutout of the season on the night.

Zibanejad reached 20 goals this season and tied Mark Messier with 250 goals as a Ranger. Tampa Bay used fewer minutes for its top players to stay healthy, as Kucherov returned after a scare, but played a season-low 13:43. The Lightning gear up to take on the Florida Panthers next in the first round of the playoffs on Tuesday.