I'll agree with most of those years. 2020 was just weird. They lucked into getting the goalies and Hamilton back after the Covid break. That said, the whole thing was just weird and running into Boston was a case of not being at that level yet. Again.see this is where I disagree.
2019 we exceeded expectations big time. We got to the playoffs a year ahead of schedule and then over-achieved in the first series riding that to the conference finals where we got roflstomped.
2020 we won the play-in serieis. We should have been expected to. Reality hit the next round getting the Bruins again.
2021 we exceeded in the regular season a bit, but winning a round before getting bounced by Tampa was realistic.
this year we under-achieved. Elite regular season team, but the expectation was at minimum Conference Finals. Credit due to the Rangers goalie, but this was a team that not being one of the last 4 standing was unacceptable as a final result.
Management needs to take a hard f***ing look in the mirror and then figure out how to make us tougher to play against next season especially when we run into situations where other teams are taking liberties with our other players. Trouba should have been eating his teeth the rest of the series after the hit on Domi, and yet we had absolutely no f***ing physical response all series. The Rangers looked at their situation after getting clowned by the Caps late last season and made themselves a more difficult team to play against, and backed by all-world goaltending it paid off for them. We haven't made ourselves any tougher since the first series loss to Boston... if anything this team has gotten softer.
2021, I would go so far as to argue the only difference between Carolina, the Islanders, and Montreal was that Carolina was placed in Tampa's division. Put Carolina and Tampa in different divisions like this year and I think the Canes make it out of the Metro before losing to Tampa.
This year, they put up 116 points, and their reward was to play teams who put up 107 and 110 in the first 2 rounds of the playoffs. 116 vs 107 or 116 vs 110 is typically a conference final matchup. This was a case where the entire East was stacked, and they couldn't break through on the road.
I don't think they would have made it past the now fully operational battle station down in Florida either way, but this entire postseason was a murderer's row in the East. I'm happy they exorcised their demons vs Boston. I didn't think they were likely to do the same vs Tampa, especially after watching Tampa hit their stride. So I'm not considering this year a disappointment.