Rangers' Girardi after Game 7 loss: 'I thought we had the team to do it this year'

In the end, the New York Rangers took a step backwards this season.

Entering the playoffs as the President's Trophy winners and reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Rangers had a legitimate shot at capping 2014-15 with a Stanley Cup victory.

Their season ended Friday, however, with a Game 7 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on home ice.

Dan Girardi, for one, was a believer right until the end.

"I thought we had the team to do it this year," the defenseman said after the game. "We have such a great group of guys here, so it's so disappointing."

This Rangers group will go down as the top team from the regular season, with a league-high 113 points and a top-ranked goal differential of plus-60.

Still, it'll be seen as a failure for not achieving the highest of goals, with a long summer of reflection and re-tooling ahead for a team that has reached the Conference Final three out of the past four years.