Sometimes, in life, two things can be true.
The 2022-23 Florida Panthers started off slowly, went on an absolute tear post-All Star Game, squeezed into a No. 8 playoff seed and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They were a better team than the first half of last season suggested.
The 2022-23 Boston Bruins started their regular season historically good—and didn't stop being historically good—until they fell to those Panthers in a baffling-at-the-time Round 1 collapse that lacked heart and adversity-handling.
They were missing the postseason magic many assumed would extend at least past the first round.