'All bets are off': Golden Knights reflect after failing to make playoffs
The Vegas Golden Knights entered the 2021-22 season viewed as a favorite to take the Pacific Division's top spot, and they seemed destined to make the playoffs for the fifth straight campaign.
However, the Golden Knights were eliminated from postseason contention for the first time in franchise history Wednesday night.
After falling to the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 in a shootout, the team is left to pick up the pieces of a lost campaign.
"On paper, what can anyone say we're missing? We have it all," forward Max Pacioretty said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal's David Schoen. "But at the same time, everyone knows that hard work beats that talent on paper, and chemistry is probably what's most important, on and off the ice.
"There's obviously going to be a lot of time for reflection," Pacioretty added. "A lot of decisions will be at this point kind of out of the players' control, but you got to expect when a team underperforms the way we have this year, all bets are off."
Injuries decimated the Golden Knights all season long. Few know that better than Pacioretty, who appeared in just 38 games this season due to various ailments.
Captain Mark Stone, defenseman Alec Martinez, and goaltender Robin Lehner were among Vegas' other key players forced to spend lengthy periods on the sidelines.
Forward Chandler Stephenson knows that all those injuries added up.
"I've never seen anything like it. It's been crazy. Over 500 man games lost or something like that, that's always tough," he said. "You look at our group, and you wonder why we're not in (the playoffs), and I know that's an excuse. It is what it is. It's tough to win games when you have 10, 11 forwards some nights."
Meanwhile, head coach Peter DeBoer is looking inward.
"I'm surprised. I'm disappointed. I'm at the front of the line for responsibility," he said. "There’s a lot of expectations on this team. It's not an easy thing, and it doesn't feel good for anybody right now."