Notable the Vegas Golden Knights had 95 points this year and are in the Stanley Cup Final, while the Washington Capitals had 95 points and missed the playoffs completely.
@RitchieEmmons Agreed, this is a much different animal than the first three rounds. He's quite capable of stealing a few games, but can't replicate last night and have much hope of winning barring the Canes producing a ton of goals.
@RealDiehlBBD Yep. That stretch between Leonard’s injury and Dubois’ return they did so little to keep afloat, and that mediocrity cost them a spot. I mean they got 95 points despite being a very meh team this season. And, of course Vegas wasn’t great at times.
@dodge_s_ 100 percent. Carolina hasn’t faced a team that is a tough fit for them yet. But Vegas is capable of creating chances and they can’t have mediocre goaltending.
@dodge_s_ Agreed. I mean I don’t think Hart is markedly better. Andersen just seems to be feast or famine, and a lot tougher for Canes to limit the quality of Vegas’ chances.
@RealDiehlBBD The real costly one was March 11 - lousy effort in Philly and they turn that game around? They are in. But really the off and on ice impact of the deadline was a killer.
@RealDiehlBBD Agreed. I will never get why they punted a spot and even despite some lousy efforts after the deadline, they were still very good overall. Hard to imagine they wouldn’t have at least been respectable.