When the Montreal Canadiens lost goaltender Carey Price for the duration of the Eastern Conference Final in Game 1 of the series, it was almost as if they received a built-in excuse to lose to the New York Rangers.
The Canadiens lost their best player, coach Michel Therrien said the day he announced his star goaltender's absence.
How could anyone reasonably expect a team to advance to the Stanley Cup Final missing its best player?
Except when looking at Montreal's loss in six games to the Rangers and looking for ways to explain it, goaltending would not appear on the list.