Advancing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs requires contributions from every level. Early eliminations, however, tend to come on two fronts: substandard goaltending, and poor top-line play.

The goaltending component is obvious. In a league where the talent distribution of most puck stoppers is narrow, teams can ill afford blowups in net. Trying to win games while carrying sustained save percentages well below 90 per cent feels like mission impossible — the quality of competition is too good, and it’s hard to erase bad games. Give up four goals in a game, you are probably going to lose. Lose four times, your season is already over.

That explains why goaltending play consumes much of the oxygen when it comes to postseason hockey analysis and postmortems when teams hit the exits early.

But amidst the league’s offensive renaissance, one hallmarked by higher scoring rates and broad playing skill across lineups, I’ve increasingly focused my attention on top-line play.

The playmakers atop these playoff-calibre teams are scoring more than ever, and to that end, persistently creating advantage play for their teams. When those advantages disappear, so do the teams – unless there is extraordinary depth play behind them.

I was thinking about this in the context of the

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