VGK, of course, is one of the best road teams in the NHL so it never would have been a gimme, especially with they way they had recently played on the road in Edmonton.

The fact that Dallas essentially curled up in the fetal position in the corner of the rink with thumb-in-mouth 5 minutes into the game, though, at home was shocking. Even at that juncture, it was still only a 3-0 deficit and there was almost 35 minutes of hockey left.

Benn's major and when they took Oettinger out 7 minutes into the game told me all I needed to know. That was the complete and utter manifestation of "we quit."

I still have PTSD tremors from that Game 7 with SJS in the 2019 playoffs, so it's hard for me to comprehend a team quitting so early like that in a hockey game, especially at home.

GO COUGS.