Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
I don't exactly buy that. The stanley cup final features starting goaltenders with .908 and .897 SV%. There's five goaltenders sporting .920+ SV% in the playoffs and they are all on eliminated teams. Andersen wasn't great but he also wasn't flat out bad. The Hurricanes just don't have the top end elite guys that can score a goal when they need it. Aho is a really good player but I can make a case he's less impactful in the playoffs as Sam Bennett. They have got to the conference finals a few times in the last decade so they have been close but the margins are slim for them when they face off against a team with elite gamebreakers.
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The 2022 Calgary/2024 Carolina comparison is pretty apt. Some really nice players, solid depth. Not enough top end elite play, especially in the POs. Gaudreau and Tkachuk threw fits in the regular season. Tkachuk (the only real elite player) gets hurt and Gaudreau reverts to being a complimentary player in the POs.