#1 When it all got away
Listening to the player interviews on breakdown day each player had a different opinion on when things went south for the team.
Tom Wilson gave a blunt answer:
"“Towards the end of the year, we just — for whatever reason — we just weren’t where we wanted to be as a group. I don’t think the hockey was good enough. I don’t think we were playing hard enough down the stretch to win games. We were in a really good position even after selling to potentially try and get into the playoffs and there were some big games where we just didn’t get it done, (big games) that, for the last 10 years, had gone the other way.”"
Dylan Strome pointed to the Penguins loss in late March:
"“I kind of feel like that Pittsburgh game was the game that sunk the ship,” the center said of the last-minute loss at PPG Paints Arena on March 25. “We had some chances after that. But if we win that game…”"
Strome also pointed to some costly losses on home ice earlier in the year that came to teams like the Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, and Columbus Blue Jackets. “Six points you’d love to have back.”