These Rangers own what makes them different from 2022 squad

The Rangers crashed the party two years ago and we all know it. It's like they were on kind of a magical mystery tour through two opening seven-game series in which they came from behind in each round before crashing in the conference finals against Tampa Bay. They were happy to be there. The Blueshirts are back again in the NHL's final four but there's little mystery to it. And while the Rangers are obviously pleased to be here after dispatching Washington in four and Carolina in six, this represents merely the halfway point of the journey. So many of the important faces are the same from two years ago — 13, in fact, are holdovers — but the tenor is entirely different and so are expectations.