While the Rangers’ stars let them down in Game 7 on Monday night, it was a group of Devils unsung heroes who were the difference in a 4-0 New Jersey victory.

First, it was fourth-line center Michael McLeod scoring the Devils’ first goal midway through the second period on a marvelous assist by veteran Ondrej Palat with the Rangers on a power play.

Palat outworked Rangers top defenseman Adam Fox for the puck near the blue line and skated toward goalie Igor Shesterkin, drawing Rangers center Mika Zibanejad toward him.

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The Rangers’ Manifest Destiny never came close to fruition. The team that not only waited all season for the playoffs but told you so from the start of training camp, won three postseason games, seven fewer than last season when the Cinderella Blueshirts went to the conference finals.

This time around, the team loaded with marquee stars could not get out of the first round. If this 107-point season was not a colossal waste, it surely ended in colossal disappointment. The team across the River stole the Blueshirts’ destiny.

The Devils, who had missed the playoffs nine times in the previous 10 years and missed the cutline by 37 points last year, were in total control of this Game 7, winning by a 4-0 score that actually flattered the Blueshirts.

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We’ll never know.

No one will for sure, because it’s one of those intangible elements to sports that’s impossible to measure with scientific data.

But it’s fair to wonder whether the heavy weight of expectations sunk the Rangers to the bottom of the Hudson River in this first-round playoff showdown with the Devils, their season of promise ending abruptly in a deflating 4-0 Game 7 loss Monday night at Prudential Center.

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The Rangers’ trend of wasting elite goaltending continued this postseason, culminating in a disheartening season-ending loss in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Devils on Monday night at Prudential Center.

Goalie Igor Shesterkin stopped 20 of the 23 shots he faced in the 4-0 defeat in the winner-take-all contest, bringing his series total to 189 stops on 203 shots.

“I feel bad for Igor,” Adam Fox said after the loss. “He battled all series for us. Feel bad to not be able to get some goals for him. Credit to their goalie, too, he played well, but obviously feel bad for our goalie there for the way he battled. Just kind of feel like we let him down.”

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Gerard Gallant would rather have players causing disruption with their forecheck and a work ethic that complements talent, rather than just talent alone. And in his postgame press conference, it appears the Rangers head coach didn't think his Blueshirts had that mixture in their Game 7 loss.

"Talent doesn't mean a thing," Gallant said. "It's great to have talent but when you've gotta play together and work hard together ... the four games that we lost, we had two goals. That's the bottom line."

Chris Kreider, the 32-year-old who played in his 107th playoff game Monday, blamed himself for the Rangers' Game 7 loss to the Devils, especially for the four goals that New Jersey scored.

“Personally I feel responsible for some of the goals they scored," Kreider said, according to The Post's Mollie Walker. "Being a veteran guy, I’m supposed to be defensively responsible… Can’t be on the ice for all 4 goals & hurt us like that.”

Missed opportunities are a dime a dozen in sports, but the Rangers’ failure to make it out of the first round of the playoffs – equipped the way they were — just may be one of the most disappointing whiffs in recent memory.

Such was a result of their 4-0 loss to the no-quit Devils in Game 7 on Monday night at Prudential Center, where the Rangers were outplayed in every sense of the word and were shutout for the second time in this series.  

The talent assembled on this team will haunt the Rangers organization forever.

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In a year where the Rangers were supposed to be Stanley Cup contenders, in a year where they acquired two stars at the deadline to solidify their positioning, any chance at the franchise’s first title since 1994 ended with a first-round loss to the Devils.

New Jersey took Game 7, 4-0, and dominated most of the 60 minutes. Akira Schmid out-played Igor Shesterkin. Michael McLeod, Tomas Tatar, Erik Haula and Jesper Bratt scored the goals. And the Rangers, one season after their Eastern Conference finals run, won’t reach the second round even as most of their core remained intact.

The first clear attempt from the Devils just slid wide of the empty Rangers net. But Jesper Bratt, who has spent his entire six-year career with the Devils, regained possession behind the net and flipped the rebound into the net.

The Devils extended their lead to 4-0.

The Rangers, in a move out of desperation, pulled Igor Shesterkin with four minutes left and a faceoff in the New Jersey zone to get the 6-on-5 advantage.

The Devils moved one step closer to facing Carolina in the second round.

Erik Haula collected a cross-ice pass from Jack Hughes and snapped a shot past Igor Shesterkin with 5:33 remaining in the third period, giving the Devils a 3-0 lead.

Haula has scored four goals in the Devils-Rangers series, with one coming in Game 2 and the other pair following in Game 5.

The Rangers still haven't managed to beat Akira Schmid in Game 7, with Schmid saving Vincent Trocheck's one-timer ahead of the commercial break. New Jersey still leads, 2-0, with just under nine minutes remaining in the third.