Golden Knights at crossroads following crushing playoff exit

The enduring image from the Golden Knights’ loss in the Stanley Cup semifinals was supplied by the two highest-ranking members of the hockey operations department.

During one particularly painful power play in Game 3, the Canadian television broadcast showed president of hockey operations George McPhee twisting and contorting his body in frustration as another chance was wasted.

A few feet away, general manager Kelly McCrimmon shook his head like a disappointed father after catching his kid taking the car without permission.

The Knights were heavily favored over the Canadiens in the best-of-seven series and appeared to be the superior side following a convincing victory in Game 1.

But after their top scorers went into a slump, the power play came unglued and the future Hall of Fame goaltender momentarily forgot how to handle the puck, the Knights exited one step shy of the final for the second straight season.

“I think it’s just getting over that hump,” captain Mark Stone said. “Teams go through this. We got to continue to learn and grow this organization. We’re four years in. We’ve had success but going into Year Five, again, the expectation is to win the Stanley Cup.

“There’s going to be things we’ll have to learn. Things that we have to adjust to. And we have to grow as a group.”

The Knights assembled a talented roster in their quest for the Cup, signing free-agent defenseman Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year, $61.6 million contract during the offseason and allocating $12 million in salary cap space to the goaltending position.

They finished as the league’s only 40-win team and tied Colorado for the most points, but lasted only one game longer than the previous postseason when Dallas eliminated the Knights in five games in the Western Conference Final.

Following a grueling first-round series with Minnesota that went the distance and an emotionally charged victory over Colorado in the West Division final, the Knights appeared to have a letdown against the underdog Canadiens.

“It definitely wasn’t an easy road,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “That’s quite a gauntlet to get through to get to here. But when you get to this point, the teams that win find another level. They don’t sag. We didn’t find another level and they did.”

The Knights’ top seven scorers from the regular season went missing against the Canadiens, who bogged down the neutral zone with a 1-1-3 setup and feasted on turnovers for offense.

Stone didn’t register a point in the six games and was unable to shake free of the defensive attention he received from the lines centered by Phillip Danault and Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

Chandler Stephenson’s absence for three games because of an upper-body injury contributed to the slump. Stone insisted he wasn’t playing injured.

But the Knights were ill-equipped to plug the hole at first-line center, an issue that must be addressed during the offseason through trade, free agency or in-house development.

The Canadiens exploited the lack of depth down the middle, and Nick Suzuki, who was the centerpiece of the trade for Max Pacioretty, haunted the team that drafted him in 2017 with five points in the series.

The Knights’ hapless power play also proved costly, going 0-for-15 in the series and 4-for-43 in the postseason. Assistant coach Steve Spott was unable to solve a season-long problem, and a change in system or personnel is needed on that unit.

“The onus is on us players,” alternate captain Reilly Smith said. “As players we just have to be better, and I think we expect that from each and every one of us.”

The loss plunges the Knights into an uncertain offseason, as the front office must decide whether this core can take the next step or if radical moves are needed to upgrade the offense and power play.

Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury shouldered the bulk of the work in the postseason, but his playoff run will be overshadowed by a costly misplay with the puck late in Game 3. The Knights looked to trade his $7 million salary cap hit last offseason and could do so again.

Defenseman Alec Martinez will be an unrestricted free agent, and might be out of the Knights’ price range if they try to land an impact scorer. The team has not entered talks with Martinez about an extension.

Forwards Mattias Janmark and Tomas Nosek are the team’s other key UFAs with free agency set to open July 28. The Knights are projected to have a little more than $6 million in cap space by CapFriendly.com and PuckPedia.com.

Martinez and Smith both seemed to know changes are in store when they said Thursday this was arguably the best team they’ve played on.

“This team’s been through a lot of adversity in four seasons,” Stone said. “They’ve been to the Cup Final. They’ve been to two conference finals, had a lot of different heartbreaks. I’m excited to learn from mistakes and try and build this team to a Stanley Cup winner, not just a contender.”

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.