And they lost to an 8th seed. They actually haven't got past the second round since 2019.
It's surprising that they'd been able to assemble a good regular season team for so long with an aging Bergeron as their best player
So they were a weak team because they lost in Game 7 OT to the team who’s won the past two Eastern Conference titles?
Criticize them for failing to get it done in the playoffs, but I just don’t see “running on fumes” describing a team that went 220-88-44 over a five year period. That team was an absolute wagon that in 4 of those 5 years got knocked out of the playoffs by a razor thin margin.
- 2020 Tampa* won two OT games to keep it from going 7.
- 2022 Carolina won Game 7 by one goal
- 2023 Florida won Game 7 in OT
- 2024 Florida* won in the last minute to prevent game 7
* = Cup champion
Those aren’t ordinary first or second round outs, those are heartbreakers against very good teams.