Seeing what happened to the Panthers in the final makes me feel a lot better about the Habs run 2 years ago.
Both were 5 game series, but at least the Habs didn’t get utterly humiliated in historic fashion against the Lightning. That last game from this years final has to be one of the most pathetic displays I’ve ever seen in pro sports. That was a team trying to play for the Stanley Cup? Just brutal. Not to mention, the Habs beat this Vegas team in convincing fashion just 2 years ago. It’s essentially the same team. They have Eichel now, but lost Pacioretty, and guys like Martinez have declined severely.
The Habs got beat decisively in 2021, but we largely shut down the Bolts’ stars after game 1. Point and Kucherov both had 3 points in game 1, and then Kuch was held to 2 points the rest of the series, and Point was held scoreless. Hedman was held to 2 points in the series, and Stamkos and Sergachev each only managed 1 point in 5 games.
The difference was depth; the Habs just couldn’t match the depth, even though our stars could go blow for blow with their stars. The goaltending duel looks pretty lopsided statistically, and maybe it was one of the reasons we lost the series. Price had a rough couple first 2 games, but after that he was able to get his bearings and was steady the rest of the way. Very, very costly first 2 games though.
The Bolts depth guys - Palat, Johnson, Goodrow, and Coleman all had 4 points in the series. This was the biggest difference, imo. The Bolts had superior depth guys that were able to contribute. Combined with Vasilevsky’s stellar play, this gave them a huge advantage.
The last reason is our team was just out coached. This doesn’t really need an explanation.
All in all, this years final provided some perspective on our teams’ run from 2 years ago for me. It wasn’t the blowout everyone remembers it as. I’m thankful we got to watch it and it was a valiant effort by the team, which I think doesn’t get mentioned enough. Seeing the Panthers get absolutely humiliated gave me an increased satisfaction and appreciation for the 2021 Cup run. Wondering if anyone else feels the same.