Playoff Downfall: What Went Wrong for the 1st Rounds Losers

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Done round one, and we actually get some time before the next begins. That's nice. Or irrelevant, if your team was one of the 1st rounds losers. So what went wrong...

Boston Bruins

Really, it's about time for the Bruins to be taking this turn. Chara is old and slow, Rask is one the wrong side of his prime, Bergeron can't carry a team on his own and neither can Marchand when he isn't playing like a rat.

The rest of the team might be better at home playing in the AHL playoffs, where most of them spent time this year or last. Really, it's just time for Boston to hit this stage. So I don't know that anything went wrong in terms of playoff performance, but short-term, they've hit their wall.

Columbus Blue Jackets

They have a terrible coach and were a statistical anomaly all year. Goaltending averaged out, shooting % averaged out, and it turns out, like many assumed, they aren't that good of a team. Big surprise to the 5th line though. 

Toronto Maple Leafs

There's nothing to say. They were lights out and that series could've gone either way. 

Minnesota Wild

Jake Allen. This weird goalie who was bad almost all year posted the most unreal save percentage in the first round. 

It doesn't help that Minnesota has some real bad contracts on the books and is getting less and less production out of their top lines each year.

San Jose Sharks

Joe Thornton was playing on one leg, and even with the big man healthy, they are slow and Cam Talbot is a beast. 

Chicago Blackhawks

Pekka Rinne was a real question going in to the series. It pretty well hinged on how well he was willing to play. He played very very well.

Chicago is a juggernaut, but they can't win every year. So take a breather Chicago fans. I'm sure they'll win next year. 

Calgary Flames

Pretty well the opposite of every other matchup, the Flames goalie Brian Elliott shat himself in the first round. He was very bad and it will likely signal the end of his time in Calgary. 

Montreal Canadiens

The Habs were largely let down by their GM. Bergevin set them up to fail the minute he traded Weber, and went after Dwight King, Steve Ott and other big people. Defensive is important in the playoffs, but not as important as rostering players that know how to play hockey.

Carey Price was brilliant. 

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