Not only is reaching this stage of the Calder Cup playoffs somewhat of a surprise, doubly so is the manner in which they’ve done it, sweeping both the Rochester Americans and the Cleveland Monster in three and four games, respectively, and outscoring them 27-11 in the process.
Undoubtedly, Sheldon Keefe and his coaching staff deserve a great deal of credit for putting the team in a position to succeed and the special teams success has been indicative of that, with the power play ranked number one at 39.1% and penalty kill sixth at 86.4% through seven games.
However, the biggest x-factor in this run to the Eastern Conference Finals is that many players have either stepped up significantly from their regular season form or continued to thrive while finding a new level once the playoffs began on April 19.