We're down to four teams in the NHL playoffs, and they are without a doubt deserving contenders. Before I get too excited about the hockey to be contested in Stars-Oilers and Hurricanes-Panthers, however, I want to briefly look back at every squad that got knocked out in the second round. Here they are, in chronological order of the ends of their seasons.
Vegas Golden Knights
I saw Vegas live as a road team twice this year. Both times, I expected them to be pretty exhausted because of scheduling. Instead, both times they made life miserable for the hosts, suffocating them with aggressive hockey that forced mistakes and limited attempts at quality possession in the offensive zone. For that reason, on top of the 48 other wins they earned in the regular season, I expected more from them in the postseason than losing in five to the Oilers.
The eye-popping bit is that Stuart Skinner, trainwreck of the first round, outplayed VGK goalie Adin Hill, and when that happens maybe you just have to shrug as angrily as possible. But the Edmonton top line took it to the Knights all series, with a combined 12 points for McDavid and Draisaitl, and Vegas wasn't able to make up the difference on the more normal guys.
You can definitely play the "What if?" game here—most obviously with the two overtime losses, and also the fact that leading defenseman Alex Pietrangelo wasn't healthy in Game 1 and therefore couldn't be out there to protect that third-period 2-1 lead. I also want to note that I've really admired how smoothly Vegas has transitioned into a post-expansion-draft era, developing third-round pick Pavel Dorofeyev into a 35-goal scorer and enjoying big dividends on their flashier trades, like the one for Tomáš Hertl. It bodes well for their future. But in the present, they are golfing.
Washington Capitals
For my money, this unceremonious defeat to the Hurricanes stung the worst of all the second-round exits, because the Capitals are not going to get another season quite as special as this. They entered the year in a spiral, winless in playoff series since 2018 and winless in playoff games since 2022. All of the positivity was focused on one player, Alex Ovechkin, and his pursuit of Wayne Gretzky's all-time goals record. The win-loss mark seemed beside the point. But at 39 years old, Ovi turned in a magical 44-goal year, and he led a revitalized team that featured a glimpse of the next generation in youngsters like Aliaksei Protas, some savvy veteran pickups like Jakob Chychrun and Pierre-Luc Dubois, and a huge new high point in production for longtime goon Tom Wilson.
The Caps cruised against Montreal, but the Hurricanes just wore them down with a siege that had them looking tapped out by Game 4. Carolina's trademark has long been volume shooting, which forces opposing stars to be very efficient on the chances they do get, but nobody on Washington managed more than a single goal across the five games. The thing that kept the Canes 12 points back of the Capitals at the end of the regular season was their scattered goaltending, but in this quintet, Freddie Andersen looked healthy and able. Ovechkin in particular went just 1-of-14 on his shots against Andersen, his lone success coming in a 5-2 loss.
There should be plenty of talent returning to Washington next fall. But can you imagine, with Ovi at 40, this group raging against the light a second time?
Winnipeg Jets
The Jets lost to the Stars in six, the Saturday finale proving to be an especially cruel overtime defeat even by NHL playoff standards. But first I have to give credit to the Dallas roster, which has long been a marvel of depth and diversity and this year boasts a new clutch king, Mikko Rantanen, to help cover for a couple of major injuries.
We'll have time to talk about the Stars later, though. For the Jets, the focus is on two guys for two different reasons: Nikolaj Ehlers and Connor Hellebuyck. Ehlers has been a dynamic winger for a decade in Winnipeg, and he's coming off his best playoffs yet. But he's about to hit free agency, putting a dent in the possibility that the Jets can maintain the level of play that made them the league's winningest regular season team. Hellebuyck, the goalie, is around for the long haul, and yet again he'll be the focal point for a franchise that likely won't attract any A-list outsiders. He's coming off a season worthy of a second straight Vezina, but his playoffs were messier than a Tim Hortons bathroom. A Game 7 buzzer-beater saved him from first-round ignominy, but the results against Dallas were still a mixed bag. He had two shutouts in the two wins, yes, but Jake Oettinger allowed fewer goals on more shots over the course of all six. Next year, the story will be the same: Winnipeg needs Hellebuyck to be a cut above the rest of the league if they're going to win games that matter.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Just take whatever you felt about the Leafs last year and increase it by another 10 percent.
