You could feel the tears in Winnipeg.

The ride was fun while it lasted, but it was not enough to give a starving fanbase something it has wanted for so long -- a playoff win.

This iteration of the Winnipeg Jets, formerly the Atlanta Thrashers, has been swept out of two playoff rounds the only two times it has made it to the postseason.

And while that first playoff sweep was no shocker, this one was. Winnipeg entered the playoffs as a premiere possession squad that entering on a high with a wild and raucous crowd behind it.

So why did it falter? Here is a look at why this side is now gone.

Goaltending

This is not particularly shocking, to say the least. Ondrej Pavelec had seemingly turned heads with the season he had produced this year, finally justifying the five-year, $19.5 million investment the franchise had made in him back in 2012.

But his play in the playoffs begged to differ greatly. After showing off a .920 save percentage in the regular season (a career-high for the 27-year-old), Pavelec regressed mightily in the postseason with a .891 save percentage in four games. He was simply not there to make the big saves for his team when they needed them most; and most of those big saves were needed in the final moments of games where his team either lost or blew major leads.

Speaking of which...

Blowing Leads

You do not win hockey games without holding leads. And if Winnipeg had just held one or two of the leads it had heading into the final frame during the first three games, maybe this would be a completely different series.

In games one through three, the Jets were up by one heading into the third period. And in each of those games, the team managed to squander the lead and concede a late goal. In Games 1 and 2, the late goals cost them the game. In Game 3, the late goal forced overtime which eventually cost them the lead as well.

Inability to shut down Anaheim's top players

Matchups are key to any playoff series and usually that means shutting down the opposition's top stars. If Ryan Getzlaf has four points in four games, Corey Perry has seven points and Ryan Kesler has five, then it is likely that Anaheim is winning the series. And they did as the Jets looked completely lost when it came to stopping the Ducks' top stars. Speaking of which...

Losing Possession Battle

Entering the postseason, the Jets were 12th in shot attempts for and ninth in shot attempts against per game; the Ducks were 11th in Shot Attempts for and 14th in shot attempts against. The Jets held the edge and were seen as the team likely to ride possession to the next round.

According to War-On-Ice, only five Ducks were averaging less than 50 percent of the shot attempts when they were on the ice during the series, meaning that most of the players were dominating possession. Anaheim had a shot attempt (Coris for) percentage of 53.2 while Winnipeg had a percentage of 46.8.

And the Ducks reflected this in the shots department. They outshot the Jets 139-118 through four games, averaging 34.5 shots per game (their season average was 30.0). They also conceded just 29.5 shots per game in this series; a bit higher than their season average of 28.9. But the Jets were far worse in the series than the overall season. Their season average of 29.7 shots per game was higher than their playoff average while their shot suppression was considerably worse in the playoffs than in the regular season. In the playoffs, they conceded 34.5 shots per game, a spike from the 28.7 shots allowed per game. Obviously, sample size plays a role (four games against 82), but it emphasizes which side dominated.

Finally, it hurt that Winnipeg was second to last in the league in the playoffs in the combined shot attempt and save percentage stat, the usual referent for "luck". The team had a combined save percentage and shooting percentage of 97.7, a number heavily influenced by the poor goaltending the team incurred.

High Points

But enough about the low points. What does Winnipeg have to celebrate heading into the offseason?

Making the playoffs is obviously huge. And finally getting solid goaltending all around. Pavelec had been woeful in years past and without a proper backup, the team foundered. Now Pavelec has found his act (in the regular season) while Michael Hutchinson had a promising rookie year with a .914 save percentage and 21 wins in 36 starts. Mark Schieifele floushed with 49 points in his second full year while Tyler Myers adapted well after being traded from Buffalo at the trade deadline.

This team is on the rise and should contend again next year, provided it gets the same solid goaltending.