It wasn't how it was supposed to go.

After a brutal loss in last year's postseason, a four-game sweep at the hands of the Florida Panthers, the Carolina Hurricanes were poised for revenge.

They kept the majority of their group together and addressed their perceived weaknesses with the additions of top free agent Dmitry Orlov and top deadline target Jake Guentel along with Evgeny Kuznetsov.

They had balance, they had depth, they had oomph.

Carolina was the betting favorite before the season even began and another strong regular season only boosted those odds heading into the playoffs.

Yet as another season comes to a close, all the Canes have to show for their work is once again frustration, anger and soul-crushing disappointment.

"We had a special group and I thought we had everything we needed to get over the hump," said Sebastian Aho. "It sucks."

To be fair, the Hurricanes were on borrowed time anyway.

When you fall into a 3-0 series hole, like they did to thew New York Rangers in the second round of the playoffs, your fate is usually sealed.

Carolina made it interesting, pulling out a last minute win in Game 4 and then crushing the Rangers in a come-from-behind victory in Game 5 and they were 20 minutes away from forcing a winner-takes-all Game 7.

But when you're already backed into a corner, you can't afford a bad period. 

Unfortunately for the Canes, that bill came due.

Despite holding a two-goal lead entering the third period, the Hurricanes wound up losing by two after the final 20 minute period.

It's not like Carolina went into turtle-mode either.

They had chance after chance after chance to put the game to bed, but they just couldn't bury anything.

"The start of the third period, we hit two posts, had a breakaway, had good looks and obviously we couldn't score there," Aho said. "They scored when they had a chance. I don't know what changed."

And then the Rangers came alive, or more so, Chris Kreider came alive.

The veteran forward scored a natural hat trick in 8:58 of game time to not only pull his team back into the fight, but steal the lead as well.

"It's not fun," said captain Jordan Staal on the season's end. "Boys battled hard, man. I mean... we battled hard. We had it in our hands there. Played some great hockey, I think, the whole series. Won a couple of big games and tonight was good beyond the third. We were 20 minutes from rolling into Game 7 where anything can happen. Frustrating, upsetting, all of the negative things that you can think of for that ending."

And Frederik Andersen, for all the big, highlight reel saves that he's made, simply had to be better.

Falling down and leaving wide-open nets, not covering a loose puck right on his skate, dropping back all the way into his crease.

The game came down to goaltending, but really it was an issue all series.

"It hurt obviously," Andersen said on the second goal against. "You don't want to give them life, obviously. I thought I had it covered and I wasn't able to get my glove down on it. A mistake. Tough timing for that and we weren't able to bounce back this time."

"The [second goal] was a tough one," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Just can't happen. We know that. You can't give a team like that a goal and I know we gave them a couple. That's really not good and then the momentum changed."

Mistakes that shouldn't have happened, but did, were the nails in Carolina's coffin.

In the end, you need a guy to come up with a big save. 

That's what Igor Shesterkin did.

Andersen, not so much.

It sucks too because there were so many moments in that game that won't be remembered due to the outcome, but the Canes had some tremendous individual efforts in Game 6.

Not only did Jordan Martinook set up the Canes' first goal with a one-touch, behind-the-back pass to Martin Necas late in the first period, but he also saved a goal with a herculean effort, diving into the Carolina net to knock a puck away that was mere millimeters away from crossing the goal line.

The fight that Jordan Martinook put forth in this game showed his heart and unwavering determination, but can the Canes afford to keep him?

Seth Jarvis was another player pushing the envelope.

He nullified the Rangers' first power play opportunity by drawing a call on a shorthanded rush and then he was the man on the spot to sweep home the loose puck to get Carolina that rare power play tally.

His next contract is going to be a big one and it will definitely squeeze out some of those depth guys.

Martin Necas was another, who had perhaps his best ever playoff game, looked poised, confident and dangerous, but is it too little too late for the upcoming RFA?

The team will not look the same next year.

In total, Carolina will have 12 expiring contracts from players who played regular minutes on this team.

"That's tough," Brind'Amour said. "It's a special group in there. This was a tough way to end a really good year. These guys played their butts off all year, but this is what you're going to remember. That's the hard part. It's a business. I'd love to roll us back with these guys, but who knows how that's all going to shake out."

You can't bring them all back.

So the question now is, how does the front office reshape this team?

Because after six years, the Canes have yet to clear the hurdle. They haven't even reached the final leg.

Circumstance will clear the slate, but what happens after its rebuilt will show if this core and staff is capable of more or not.

"We've had such a great group here for so long," Staal said. "The way this business goes, obviously you can see the squeezing a little bit with the way the cap goes, but I think they'll do their best to keep as many of these guys as they can. But yeah, I love all these guys. It's been fun growing up with this group. Coming up short right now hurts a lot knowing there's going to be a few changes."