The thing that has to sting for the Vegas Golden Knights as they get eliminated in the third round or later for the third time in their four-year existence? They were beaten by a team that could be best described as “Diet Vegas.”

Think about it: Strong goaltending on paper (if not always in practice) with two guys who have been reasonably called No. 1s in the recent past. A top-heavy but solid defence featuring a number of guys who can move the puck ably and a few who, well, can’t. A forward group that never seems to get the results they seem like they should, but with elite talent at key positions that drive their results and, more importantly, shut down the opposition.

In theory, there’s very little to fix about this team. They were an elite group by whichever underlying numbers you want t