A first round loss with this generational core hurts considering an address of proper roster needs could have prevented it.
The nature of hockey and why we love it is that it's such a random game sometimes. Grown men simultaneously skating on ice gracefully and with purpose while skillfully handling a small rubber puck with a stick sounds so ridiculous without context. The NHL in particular is defined by the natural lucky bounces a team may be afforded because of this wacky game. Ultimately within reason, a team can only control it's destiny so much. Sometimes an opponent is just better and it doesn't even matter.