Artemi Panarin led the Rangers with 120 points during the regular season. Chris Kreider, the captain, was third. And Mika Zibanejad was fifth.
Through three games of the Eastern Conference Final, that trio had combined for all of one point against the Panthers, an assist from Panarin.
Panarin finally came through with a pair of assists in Tuesday’s 3-2 overtime loss in Florida in Game 4, but the team’s leading goal-scorer during the regular season still hasn’t tallied a goal in this series and, worse, Kreider and Zibanejad didn’t produce anything.
And for all the terrific play from Vincent Trocheck and the continued emergence of Alexis Lafreniere — they both scored Tuesday — the Rangers will be hard-pressed to win this series, let alone their first Stanley Cup in three decades, without more help from some of their most established offensive weapons.
Without it, the Rangers have had to rely too heavily on Igor Shesterkin, who was brilliant versus the Panthers in making 37 saves.
But he was no match for the quick, hard shot from Sam Reinhart just 1:12 into OT after Florida got on the power play on a penalty by the returning Blake Wheeler.
Game 5 is set for Thursday (8 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Madison Square Garden.
The Rangers have yet to face an elimination game this postseason. One more loss and that will change.
Some goals from Panarin, Kreider and Zibanejad would help.
Today’s back page
Fast learner
As Luis Severino has taken steps in resurrecting his career with the Mets, he still has his eye across town, where the Yankees are doing just fine without their former No. 1 starter.
And one of the reasons why the Yankees have been the best team in the American League is Wednesday’s scheduled starter against the Angels: Luis Gil.
Severino said he met Gil — who turns 26 next week — in 2018 after Gil was picked up in a trade from the Twins in exchange for outfielder Jake Cave.
Because both right-handers are from the Dominican Republic, Severino said, he took Gil under his wing.
“He was still in the minors when we met, but I always try to talk to the young guys from the DR,’’ Severino said. “I had him at my house in Tampa and we played dominoes.”
Now, after recovering from Tommy John surgery, Gil is off to a terrific start in 2024 with a dynamic four-seam fastball and a terrific changeup.
“I’m really happy for him,’’ Severino said. “He has an elite fastball and showed everybody he was good before he got hurt. Now he’s pitching unbelievably [well]. He’s young, healthy and can do anything.”
And Gil’s development shows the difficulty in predicting how prospects will turn out.
Pitching coach Matt Blake recalled recently that shortly after getting the job with the Yankees, he went to the team’s academy in the Dominican Republic to meet Severino and Gary Sanchez, among others.
That’s when he first saw Gil, along with Deivi Garcia — then perhaps the team’s best pitching prospect — and Luis Medina.
“Some people thought he could be the best of all of them,’’ Blake said of Gil. “Now, we know the arm talent is there, but maybe we didn’t expect him to be this good, this quick.”
Gil has helped the Yankees to be without Gerrit Cole for the first two months of the season — and counting — without missing a beat: Nestor Cortes gave the Yankees their record-setting 15th consecutive start of at least five innings with two or fewer runs allowed Tuesday night before the bullpen and defense conspired to blow it in a 4-3 loss to the Angels that put their record at 37-19.
Through his first 10 starts last season en route to his first Cy Young Award, Cole threw 62 ⅔ innings with an ERA of 2.01. In 10 starts this year, Gil has pitched 55 ⅓ innings and has an ERA of 2.11.
Gil heads into Wednesday’s outing as the MLB leader among starting pitchers at 4.39 hits allowed per nine innings, nearly a hit per nine innings less than the next pitcher on the list, Ranger Suarez of the Phillies.
“I feel like what he’s doing now is sustainable if he stays healthy,’’ Blake said. “It’s reproducible.”
Meanwhile, Garcia is pitching in the bullpen for Triple-A Charlotte after compiling a 7.07 ERA with the White Sox in April. Medina finished last season with a 5.42 ERA in Oakland, and he’s now recovering from an injury suffered during spring training.
Trivia question
In a landmark update of baseball’s numerical history, Major League Baseball will incorporate statistics from the Negro Leagues into its official record book.
With the change, the legendary Josh Gibson becomes the all-time leader in batting average (.372, surpassing Ty Cobb) and slugging percentage (.718, moving ahead of Babe Ruth) as well as the single-season leader in several hitting categories (he hit .466 in 1943).
There are plenty of more subtle edits, too. With the update, Willie Mays now has 3,293 career hits. Three years before his New York Giants debut, he had 10 hits as a 17-year-old with which Negro Leagues team?
(Scroll to the bottom for the answer.)
Middling infielders
Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stated the obvious Tuesday when he said, “We haven’t played like a playoff team.”
He added that it was too soon to start breaking down the team, but two players who don’t figure to be going anywhere seem to be part of the problem: Jeff McNeil and Francisco Lindor.
Two years ago, the Mets seemed pretty set in the middle of their infield. McNeil finished third in the majors in OPS among second basemen at .836, and Lindor was fifth among shortstops with a .788 OPS.
Lindor had completed Year 1 of a 10-year, $341 million deal, and following that 2022 season, McNeil signed a four-year, $50 million contract to stay in Queens.
Neither investment looks good for Steve Cohen right now. The production of both infielders has plummeted in the ensuing year-plus.
After going 2-for-9 with a home run and five strikeouts in Tuesday’s doubleheader sweep by the Dodgers, Lindor owns a .651 OPS, ranked 18th among 21 qualified shortstops this season.
McNeil, who went 0-for-7 including a popup with the chance to win Game 1 in the ninth inning, is 16th among 20 qualified second basemen with a .633 mark.
The dropoff isn’t shocking, according to some scouts.
“McNeil is old, and Lindor is getting old,’’ one NL scout said.
The Mets are one of just three teams with both a second baseman (McNeil is 32) and shortstop (Lindor turned 30 in November) over 30. The other two are the Rangers (Marcus Semien and Kyle Seager) and the Diamondbacks (Ketel Marte and Kevin Newman).
Like the Mets (22-32), Texas and Arizona are both under .500.
Plenty of other issues have plagued the Mets, from a shaky rotation to an overtaxed and undermanned bullpen, as well as mostly poor play at third base and a lengthy injury absence by Francisco Alvarez.
But there’s no denying the black hole in the middle of the infield.
What we’re reading 👀
🏀 Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves won Game 4 to avoid a sweep and postpone the cruelty for Nets fans of seeing Kyrie Irving in the NBA Finals.
⛳ Lexi Thompson announced her retirement from golf at the age of 29, effective at the end of the LPGA season. “Being out here can be a lot. It can be lonely,” Thompson said.
🏀 Caitlin Clark filled up the stat sheet with a WNBA-career-high 30 points (including three 3s and 13 free throws), six assists, five rebounds, three blocks, three steals and seven turnovers as her Fever fell to 1-7.
⚾ The Post’s Mike Vaccaro says yer outta here to Angel Hernandez, “the consensus worst umpire in the game at a time when every pitch — literally every single pitch — was available on video.”
🏀 St. John’s likely has seen the last of Chris Ledlum and Jordan Dingle after a judge declined the players’ request for relief as they sue the NCAA for additional eligibility.
Trivia answer
The Birmingham Black Barons
