Presidents' Trophy Curse?

While Bob Ross wasn't much of a hockey fan from what I can gather, I feel like I summoned him today as I tackled a painting project. While there were no happy little rocks or sneaking trees into my project, there were ceilings and walls patched before the ceiling was painted, leaving it looking refreshed and new. I'm not sure if the Washington Capitals were doing any painting between games, but they looked refreshed and ready to go this afternoon in destroying the Florida Panthers once again. Is this going to be another Presidents' Trophy winner who makes an early playoff exit?

The Presidents' Trophy, handed out to the team with the most points in the regular season, has long considered to be cursed when it comes to playoff success. The last Presidents' Trophy-winning team to capture the Stanley Cup was the 2012-13 Chicago Blackhawks, so it's been a while since we've seen a team put the Stanley Cup next to Presidents' Trophy at the end of the year.

What may surprise people even more is that only eight times has the team with the most points in the regular season gone on to win the Stanley Cup since 1985-86 when it was first awarded. Three more Presidents' Trophy-winning teams had made the Stanley Cup Final, but lost. If you're doing the quick math, that's 11 appearances in the Final for the 36 times the trophy has been awarded - a 30.6% success rate which isn't that good.

There are a number of reasons why the Presidents' Trophy winners may not win, but it's hard to overlook the complete lack of playoff experience that the Florida Panthers have after winning the trophy this season. After the 6-1 thumping in Washington by the Capitals today, it would appear that the Panthers may be on their way to becoming the eighth Presidents' Trophy-winning team to bow out of the playoffs in the opening round. The last team to do that? The 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning who fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With Washington holding a 2-1 series lead over Florida, it would be unwise to write off the Panthers as there have been a lot of teams who have rallied to win the series after falling behind in three games. What may be key in this year's playoffs, though, is that all the Eastern Conference teams finished above the 100-point line for the first time in NHL history. With no particularly weak teams in the conference at this time, the Panthers are going to have to pull up their socks and get back to work if they hope to salvage this series.

"So far, the story written right now is they've out-competed us, out-willed [us], pretty much in every puck battle, every area," Florida coach Andrew Brunette said to Harvey Valentine of NHL.com following the five-goal loss today. "Something we're going to have to figure out here."

Andrew Brunette's understatement and obvious statement aside, the Capitals have done a fantastic job in keeping the likes of Jonathan Huberdeau, Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, and Claude Giroux under wraps through three games. Carter Verhaeghe is the leading scorer for the Panthers, and his one goal and two helpers need some other Panthers to join him beyond his 42nd-overall ranking on the statistical leaderboard right now.

Brunette's view of his team should worry Panthers fans as we know how playoff hockey gets tighter in terms of defence and checking, something that Florida may not have seen for most of the season.

"To me, frustration's taken over for some reason," Brunette said. "When you get frustrated, it usually means you're not working hard enough. Our compete has not been what it has been all year. It could be nerves, but we have to find a way."

They will need to find a way or a magical regular season could be all for naught. It was the first time Florida was held to one-goal-or-less in regulation since January 21, and that's where a stout defence would come in handy. When Gustav Forsling is logging twenty minutes of ice time ahead of players like Weegar and Montour, there may be some inward reflection on what needs to happen to keep Ovechkin, Backstrom, and Oshie off the scoreboard.

I don't believe in "curses", so I'm not giving the Panthers any leeway for something that isn't real. I will say that they should listen to Bob Ross above and simply "beat the devil out of" the Capitals with their work ethic as head coach Andrew Brunette wants because, as I've repeated on this blog before, hard work is the ultimate equalizer in all hockey situations. Otherwise, the "curse" of the Presidents' Trophy will strike again!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!