Gerard Gallant faces question about scratching Kaapo Kakko in Game 6.

In spite of the fact that they took a commanding 2 - 0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Final, the New York Rangers were eliminated from Stanley Cup playoff contention on Saturday night when they lost their 4th game in a row to the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It was a frustrating loss for the Rangers, especially for veteran players like Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, and following the game most of the blame for the loss appeared to fall not on the players but on their head coach. There were a number of moments that led to criticism of Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant on Saturday, both prior to the game and during it as well.

The biggest issue of the day of course was Gallant's highly controversial decision to make Rangers first round draft pick Kaapo Kakko a healthy scratch ahead of the biggest game of the year. Gallant was asked about the move prior to the game and refused to comment on any lineup changes, but that didn't prevent criticism of the decision.

Rangers beat reporter Vincent Mercogliano called it a "highly questionable" decision on the part of the head coach.

Former player turned analyst Mike Johnson had a similar take.

The situation would only get more bizarre following the loss with Gallant once again refusing to explain the bizarre decision to members of the media. When asked why he had scratched Kakko, Gallant shut the question down completely.

"I’m not going to talk about it," said Gallant.

Gallant also received criticism for his decision to not challenge a late goal by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos, a goal that would prove to be the eventual game winner. To be fair to Gallant this was a much more mild reproach, but there were clearly some who felt the call should have been challenged, including former NHLer and co-host of the Spittin Chiclets podcast Ryan Whitney.

Dan Tencer, director of scouting for Blades Hockey, also seemed perplexed by Gallant's decision not to challenge.

While Gallant may not want to give answers to the media he will no doubt have to account for these decisions internally. It will be interesting to monitor the potential fallout of those decisions, especially as it pertains to Kakko and his relationship with Gallant and the Rangers.