Watching the New York Rangers’ Window Slam Shut

This article originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

Henrik Lundqvist sat slumped on the bench, his mask resting on his luxurious coif, completely defeated after allowing four goals on 18 shots. He wasn't angry or resolute—he was a man coming to terms with a poor performance by himself and his team in a game that still had 30-plus minutes to play.

It was an unfamiliar sight for everyone at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night. But it's one everyone should get used to.

"It's definitely out of character for this group to come up with this type of performance," said coach Alain Vigneault, who chose to ignore that showings like this have become the norm this season and have only been masked by Lundqvist's brilliance. "I don't think it was lack of will—we just picked a very bad night to have a very bad game."

The Rangers lost 5-0 in Game 4 of their first-round series to the Pittsburgh Penguins to fall into a 3-1 series hole. It's an identical position to the one they found themselves in two years ago before eliminating the Penguins in seven games on the way to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final.

That's about the only thing the 2014 Rangers have in common with the 2016 Rangers.

The window has closed on the Rangers, a true Stanley Cup contender the previous four seasons after a steady ascension that started in 2011.

Whether this deeper, stronger Penguins team than the one that folded in 2014 knocks out the Rangers on Saturday in Game 5 or at a future date, there's no denying the lean times that are coming for the Rangers.

The defense will be anchored by Ryan McDonagh for years and Kevin Klein's contract is great, but what else is there? Dan Boyle and Keith Yandle are gone after this season, unless Yandle decides to tether himself to a sinking ship instead of leaving as a free agent; Dan Girardi has not played since Game 1 of this series as he battles a debilitating case of Dan Girardi; Marc Staal is nearing the end while Dylan McIlrath and Brady Skjei are young but hardly game-changers in the making.

There's definitely more to like among the forwards, especially with Derek Stepan, Derick Brassard and Mats Zuccarello signed to reasonable long-term deals. Rick Nash turns 32 this summer and has two years remaining on a deal that is fine at best but it's probably best to describe him as declining.

Chris Kreider, J.T. Miller and Kevin Hayes will all be restricted free agents this summer and forecasting their future is just about impossible. They could all be consistent 20-goal scorers or continue to be the maddeningly inconsistent players that seem incapable of meeting expectations.

If you want a snapshot of how the Rangers have fallen since their Cup Final season, look at their forward depth: That year, Brassard and Zuccarello comprised two thirds of a lethal third line and now represent the team's top two scorers in 2016; at this moment, the third line is the decomposing Eric Staal, Hayes when he's not being healthy scratched, and Jesper Fast, a capable depth forward with 10 goals in 79 games this season.

That's just not a championship group anymore and won't be one next season.

Lundqvist, however, is still a championship goaltender. Nothing speaks to the current situation like his very good .920 save percentage this season that has come with being yanked eight times during games. He is the sixth-oldest goaltender in the NHL but even as he gets shelled in this series, he's showing no signs of diminishing skills.

But everything around him is falling apart and because of the team's all-in attitude the past few years, it seems impossible that Lundqvist ever wins a Stanley Cup with the Rangers.

Skjei was taken in the first round of the 2012 draft; because of trades that netted Nash, Yandle and Martin St. Louis, the Rangers won't make another pick in the first round until 2017, unless they trade that next year for Jarome Iginla in a desperate attempt at a championship or playoff spot.

If you count this year, the Rangers had a legitimate five-year window to win a championship. They have reached three conference finals and four second rounds since 2012, which is a tremendous run few teams get to enjoy in this age of parity.

Whether it's the numbers, the advanced age, the poor possession stats, the lack of first-round draft picks or the eye test—this 3-1 deficit is a far deeper hole than the 3-1 deficit they faced two years ago—this feels like the end.

Lundqvist held the window open one year longer than maybe another goaltender could have. But on Thursday, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Matt Murray slammed it for good.