Two Perspectives of What Went Wrong: What Golden Knights Fans Will Say vs The Truth

The Vegas Golden Knights, for the second straight year, were eliminated in the third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This time, it was the Montréal Canadiens who ousted them, a six game elimination that was sealed with a 3-2 overtime loss. This also marks the third straight season where the Golden Knights were eliminated in an overtime game, and the second straight year that they were ousted by a team with Corey Perry on it (Perry was with the Dallas Stars last season).

So regarding What Went Wrong, I decided to take a different twist in this story. This will be seen from two perspectives: what Golden Knights fans will say went wrong for the team, and what really happened. This will be divided into three categories that Knights fans just love to harp on, so here we go.

First off, the refs.

Knights fans: "The officiating was atrocious, refs were against this team from the get-go. Look at Game Two vs Colorado, a slashing call in overtime?! Just because a Knights player intentionally used his stick to strike Mikko Rantanen's stick and knock it out of his hands, you have to call it?! Seriously?! Yeah, Vegas beat Colorado, but it was them vs the refs, and it was the same against the Habs as well."

The Truth: The Knights got away with everything in the book, from cross checking to literally bloodying Corey Perry's nose with a high stick, and even sucker punching a player right in front of the ref. Yet the softest calls went against the Canadiens. Even so, Vegas' Power Play was nonexistent, not ONE PPG during the entire series. And let's go back to that OT game vs the Avalanche. Since head coach Peter DeBoer complained about that call, refs called next to nothing on Vegas. That's ten games. So don't tell me the refs were against Vegas. The scar on Corey Perry's nose says otherwise.

Next up, the North Division.

Knights fans: "Of course the Canadiens got this far. It's because of that Canadian Division, it's crap. Look at who Vegas had to play against: Colorado, Minnesota, St. Louis, the California teams! Especially the Ducks, they're a juggernaut, look at how they score 1-2 goals a game! The Habs play Ottawa, everybody beats Ottawa. Didn't Mark Stone play with Ottawa? Now he's on a real team getting points left and right. Bottom line, they just got lucky."

The Truth: The Habs beat a strong Maple Leafs team and a loaded Jets team to get to this round, and they have a lot of depth; with players like Brendan Gallagher, Tyler Toffoli, Joel Armia, Cole Caufield, and the man who eliminated the Knights, Artturi Lehkonen. Oh, and about Mark Stone. Number of points Stone put up in this series? Zero. Completely blanked.

And last but not least, Knights fans' favorite subject: Fleury vs Lehner.

Knights fans: "Why did DeBoer start Lehner? Why is he still on this team? He singlehandedly cost this team last year against Dallas! Fleury is a Vezina winner, he's a Vezina candidate this year. Don't you know Fleury is basically the second coming of Patrick Roy?! Why would you bench Fleury for a scrub like Lehner?! He just cost us again! Lehner better not be on this team next year!"

The Truth: First off, Vegas' inability to find the net cost them against Dallas last year, and secondly, Fleury and Lehner won the same amount of games in this series: one. In fact, it was Lehner who kept the Knights from falling behind 3-1 in that series, which was what Vegas was facing in Game Four. And they started Lehner in Game Six because Fleury got torn apart in net in Game Five on home ice. Even in defeat in Game Six, Lehner kept it together and made key saves in the third period to get the game to OT, and it was a defensive breakdown that led to that game-winning goal.

So that's that. The Golden Knights' season is over, and it ends with yet another failure to return to the Stanley Cup Final. The team is strong, so not much has to change regarding talent, though some would say that DeBoer needs to go and they shouldn't have fired Gerard Gallant in the first place. I do know this, it will be a very interesting offseason for that team.

If you like this story, feel free to comment on my Twitter and Facebook pages, and if you really love this story, feel free to leave a tip (if you want)!