Fans Flock To Midtown Bars For Game 7, But Rangers Come Up Short

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- It was make or break for the New York Rangers as they went up against the Tampa Bay Lighting in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals on Friday night.

While the road to the finals ran through Madison Square Garden, that's also where it ended for the Rangers on Friday. They lost to the Lightning 2-0.

Fans gathered in Midtown for a noon pep rally outside the Garden, as well as a few blocks away outside Mustang Harry's, 352 Seventh Ave., where the party was getting underway hours before the big game.

"I think this is the year. I'm excited, so excited," Tony Gregory of Westfield, New Jersey told CBS2's Andrea Grymes.

Gregory had his Rangers jersey over his shoulder and like many fellow fans was cautiously optimistic heading into a game that if won would send the Blueshirts back to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year.

"Feeling pretty confident. Trying not to have too big of a head here, but I'm really excited. I'm staying in the city, I'm going to work. Going out with the boys after," Gregory said.

He wasn't alone.

Kim Rebetti from Bellmore on Long Island was just as pumped in her lucky T-shirt and flip flops.

"I'm very superstitious. I wear the same outfit for every Game 7, and we've won them all so far," Rebetti said.

Benjamin Bajardi is just 6 years old, but he told CBS2's Jessica Schneider he's been living and breathing the Rangers since before he could walk.

"It's been a long time since last year when they lost to L.A. in the (Final). This time it's going to be Callahan versus McDonagh. It's two captains on the Rangers versus each other," Benjamin said.

Kim Bajardi said her son put on his Ryan McDonagh jersey the second he got out of school on Friday.

"We are such big Rangers fans and they are the best team ever and we always say in Game 7 it's the Rangers all the way," Kim Bajardi said. "We never give up on this team, do we?  Let's go Rangers!"

The Rangers had been 9-5 all-time in Game 7s, including six straight wins, thanks in huge part to star goaltender Henrik Lundqvist. They fell to 9-6 on Friday.

"It seems like Lundqvist just stands on his head every Game 7," said Aidan O'Malley of Rockville Centre.

"He's just like a perfect human being. Man crush city right here. I love that guy," Gregory said.

Lundqvist had made some big saves in the series, which was a roller coaster ride of emotions. There were high-scoring games, including a 7-3 win on Tuesday in Tampa that kept the Rangers' season alive.

"They're the cardiac kids, but I got used to that. I keep a defibrillator next to the couch and everything's alright," said Esteban Vanleuvan of Chelsea.

Fans had been counting on the Game 7 wins to keep coming.

"There's nothing to describe Game 7, hometown building in order to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. Only thing better would be Game 7 to win the Stanley Cup," fan Vitzi Adler said.

Fan Sergio Nieto had predicted the Rangers would win 4-3.

Another fan said, "I think it's gonna be a nail-biter. I think it's gonna be close. But in the end they're gonna come out. They always win Game 7, right?"

The answer there, unfortunately, was proven to be no.

But one fan emphasized to CBS2's Schneider that the game was a uniter among New Yorkers.

"You actually see people you wouldn't expect to know anything about hockey and you see cab drivers say 'Let's go Rangers.' The whole city is super psyched up about it. The Rangers have a culture and a team that everyone can get behind," Kenney Shereskey said.