Much is made about the Golden Knights’ ability to come back in third periods. They outscored the opposition 108-61 in the final 20 minutes of games during the regular season, but that was just one aspect of the team’s consistent inconsistencies.

That was just one part of the emotional ride the fans went on.

The Golden Knights hovered around .500 throughout the first 50 games (25-13-12). They lost the next five games, then won the final two before the Olympic Break.

“Each year is unique in its own way. This year, I think just the ups and downs we dealt with as a group,” defenseman Noah Hanifin said. “When you go on runs like this, you learn a lot about your group and yourself.”

It was after the break, however, that the Golden Knights went into a free fall.

Vegas went 5-10-2 immediately after the Olympics, including a 1-4-2 run from March 17-29 that was the final straw. The Golden Knights fired coach Bruce Cassidy and brought in John Tortorella for the final eight games of the season.

Tortorella stabilized the team, and the Golden Knights averaged 4.13 goals per game and allowed an average of 1.88. It was a full goal better than the first 74 games of the season, where the Golden Knights averaged 3.12 goals per game and allowed 3.07.

Vegas won seven of its final eight games to go from potentially missing the postseason to winning the Pacific Division.

“Coach came in and did a great job, hell of a job,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “We battled our (butts) off this whole playoff, and we came up short, and it's going to sting. It's going to haunt us, but we're proud of how we got here and how we played, and unfortunately, it just wasn't good enough.”

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Corinthia Mes