If they wilted then did McDavid wilt in the finals last year when he was held scoreless over Edmonton's last 2 games despite nearly setting the playoff record for most points in a single run? Is it because he isn't as good as Florida's top guys even though he has the 3rd highest playoff pts per game ever?
Yes, McDavid did wilt. Just like Panarin wilted.
Being a higher-level player doesn't insulate you from coming up short in the biggest moments (see Panarin) just like being a lower-level player doesn't mean you can't have the elite run of your life (see ROR).
But come on, play the odds.
Post-letter, we have had one forward of the caliber that might be able to swing a series like that and he failed. If we had three of those types, maybe they would have succeeded where he did not. That's what Tampa had. They have two Cups because of it.
Counting on Kreider to carry you instead of a legit star is like hoping you hit the lottery.
See how ridiculous that sounds? (Eichel went pointless in gs 6 and 7 vs Dallas last year. Did he wilt?)
I think the bigger issue is that the other guys (see: the other 6 players in the top 9 and really the other top 6 line) didn't do enough. Would have been the perfect time for Panarin to step up and actually take over for a few games (mind you, this was actually a pretty decent series for him and probably his 2nd best overall as a Ranger. Some will point to Pittsburgh but I'll point you to the 290302939023902309293 turnovers he had in that series. I remember how it ended, but I also remember everything that happened before that) instead of being just okay.
The aforementioned duo of Kreider-Zibanejad literally gave them a 2-0 lead in G3 after lighting them up in g1. They more than did their part in that series.
Tampa didn't exactly fill the net with pucks the rest of the way either. Games 5 and 6 were 2-1 games IIRC (or basically 2-1 games.)
It's not ridiculous, the support players shouldn't be counted on to take over games. You need horses and ours have lost out to better players time and again.
I'm not saying the black holes aren't a problem, they are. But it's also clear our core isn't really good enough. Tampa's outclassed us. Florida's outclassed us. Colorado's surely would have in 2022. Dallas would probably run us out of the gym with their group if they are healthy.
Absent a trade to bring in an Eichel or two, what we needed at the very least was Lafreniere and Kakko to turn into 70-80 point capable players.
And as I always feared, that didn't happen in time before the older core aged out (and frankly at this point probably never will happen as Kakko is already gone and Lafreniere doesn't look like that caliber player).
