Lessons from last season could shape how the NHL’s top contenders vie for the Stanley Cup in 2024

All Connor McDavid wants to do after establishing himself as the best hockey player in the world is win the Stanley Cup. “But I think what’s more important than that is you’ve got to be playing your best hockey at the right time.” That was the prevailing lesson after the banged-up Bruins fell “woefully short” of their goal, in the words of their general manager, Don Sweeney, and the Panthers came just three wins short of the Cup after losing 28 of their first 41 games and being the last team to qualify in the Eastern Conference. “We’re all very motivated this year to kind of get our standard back to where we need it to be to win.” The way MacKinnon talked about his hunger to win before the Avalanche got the job done in 2022 is now being echoed by McDavid and Draisaitl. “There’s going to be times where it feels like you can’t lose and times where it feels like it’s really hard to win, but that comes with 82 games and six months of a regular season,” said Capitals defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, who hoisted the Cup in 2015 with Chicago. “It’s going to go like that in a game like this where the margins are so small, so you just got to kind of not get too high or too low and just obviously bring that effort every night.” ___ AP Hockey Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York and AP Sports Writers Mark Anderson in Las Vegas and Pat Graham in Denver contributed.