Rangers' Trocheck: 'Pretty empty feeling' losing in Round 3

Vincent Trocheck opened up Tuesday about how it felt when the Florida Panthers eliminated his New York Rangers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Final.

"It was a pretty empty feeling," the forward told the media, including SNY. "(To) go as far as we did, put in as much effort, invest so much into the season, make it to the Eastern Conference Final ... and to come up short is just, it sucks. It's not fun."

Trocheck was seen consoling Igor Shesterkin in the immediate aftermath of the season-ending 2-1 defeat, and he revealed that he was offering some words of encouragement to the star goaltender.

"He was our best player by a significant margin in the playoffs, and I thought if there was one guy that I thought needed to hear that after the loss to kind of keep his spirits up, I just told him he was our best player and he deserved better," Trocheck said.

Shesterkin was in a better mood Tuesday when asked about his looming contract situation.

Shesterkin is on the books through next season, so he'll be eligible to sign an extension July 1.

Two Rangers players revealed Tuesday that they played through injuries in the postseason.

Defenseman Adam Fox told reporters he aggravated the injury he sustained in November when he missed 10 games following a knee-on-knee hit from Carolina Hurricanes star Sebastian Aho.

Forward Jimmy Vesey said he separated his shoulder, according to the New York Post's Mollie Walker. Vesey left Game 2 after playing under six minutes and sat out the final four contests.