"Blaming the ice is a terrible look" "Pathetic excuse": Fans left baffled at Chris Kreider's comment on ice at MSG after Rangers' Game 1 loss 

The New York Rangers ͏faced a frustrati͏ng Ga͏me ͏1 loss against the F͏lorida ͏Panthers in the Eastern Conference finals at Madison Sq͏uare Garden. Despite a strong offen͏sive ͏lineup, the Rangers s͏truggled,͏ scoring zero goals against Sergei Bobrovsky until an unfortunate͏ own͏ goa͏l cred͏i͏ted to Carter Verhaeghe.

In a post-game interview, Kreider acknowledged the ice quality but emphasized it wasn't an excuse for their performance.

He said:

"Sorry for saying, like this is not an excuse at all, because we're both playing on the same ice, but the ice wasn't the best. but that's going to be the case at this time of year. That's going to be the case when you're playing warmer months, it's warmer outside, there's a lot of people in the building."

Fans took to X/Twitter to express their disappointment and disbelief at Kreider's comments regarding the ice conditions, with one fan commenting:

"Blaming the ice is a terrible look"

Another fan also showed their dissatisfaction with the take:

"lol man that is one pathetic excuse."

Others criticized Chris Kreider's remarks as deflecting accountability:

"That was definitely an excuse lmao," one fan said.

"Blaming the ice? Really?" another fan reacted.

"We’re really blaming the ice now? Unbelievable," one fan chimed in.

"We’re blaming the ice holy shit," one fan commented.

Meanwhile, others pointed out the flaws in the Rangers' game:

"Guys, God bless you all, but there was a lot of ill-advised, rushed passes. Get em next game," one fan said.

"Pathetic effort," another fan said.

The Rangers' offensive struggles were evident, with only five shots on goal in the first period and 12 through two periods.

Despite a surge in the third period with 11 s͏hots, the Rangers couldn't break through. The Panthers ca͏pitali͏zed on their opportunities, s͏ec͏urin͏g a 3-0 win with a goal from Matthew Tkachuk, an ow͏n goal off Alexis ͏Lafrenière's stick and an empty-netter from Sam Bennett.

Chris Kreider's teammate and coach reflect on the Game 1 loss

After the Rangers' Game 1 loss, head coach Peter Laviolette acknowledged the need for improvement in execution, especially in offensive zones:

"I thought that we could have executed better," Laviolette said. "Our execution has got to be better in the offensive zone, but also from getting out of the defensive zone through the neutral zone and then into the offensive zone."

Center Mika Zibanejad echoed Laviolette's sentiments, emphasizing the team's belief in their capabilities:

"We feel that we have better in us," Zibanejad said. "There's room for, not improvement, [but] to raise our level."

The Rangers' focus now shifts to refining their game plan for Game 2 on Friday, with key considerations including cleaner breakouts, improved passing through the neutral zone and generating more traffic in front of netminder Sergei Bobrovsky.