How did the Blue Jackets beat the Tampa Bay Lightning?

Six days ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets were a kind of punchline. They had been in trouble all season, trailing in the post-conflict, limbo before rebuilding, just waiting for their upset goaltender and upset star to retire, whether in summer or at the trading deadline. Instead, they decided shockingly to be buyers by the deadline, mortgaging choices that would have helped rebuild veterans and accepting the possibility that Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin could leave them for nothing. . Even after the exchanges, the Blue Jackets have stammered, thus winning a place in the playoffs at the last weekend of the season. And what did it matter anyway? This franchise has never won playoffs in its history. And what is this does it matter anyway? They had to play at Tampa Bay Lightning, one of the biggest teams in the history of the sport.

These things are for the most part still true, but for the moment, everyone is not sure. The 2018-1919 Blue Jackets have stumbled into a dysfunctional season and could have hurt their future with an inexplicable trading deadline strategy … only to win their very first playoff series by just totally beat Lightning's asses.

"For six days in April," said Lightning head coach Jon Cooper, "Columbus was the best team".

In summary, any exegesis – and there will be many – will consist in trying to understand why and how this statement might be true, to understand why and how 82 games can do absolutely nothing. with the next four.

There were vivid attempts in the lost cloakroom, and all had an air of truth, though none was really complete. The success of Cooper the Lightning during the regular season led to a spiritual layoff that was too difficult to go back. "You do not play meaningful hockey for a long time. Then, suddenly, you have to speed it up. Yes, but still. Kucherov blamed the hockey gods: "Nothing was our way of doing things in the series." Yes, but still. Steven Stamkos blamed Tampa's suddenly deadly special teams: "Drop us in the playoffs." Yes, but still. Ryan Callahan blamed the puck: "A rebound here, a rebound there." Yes, but still.

All of these factors were necessary but not sufficient. It was Stamkos, obviously struggling for words, who finally said the truest thing of all. "If we had the answers, we would have found a way to win a match."

They and I and probably even Columbus can not tell you why and how it happened, but what What has happened is much simpler and deeply non-sexual, at least in relation to a discussion of fate and pressure, as well as miracles and strangulation. Columbus 1-2-2 is not a particularly rare defensive formation, but the Blue Jackets players were fully engaged and it's perfectly suited to counter what the Lightning wants to do.

The formation, which sees an aggressive forward forward, the other two cluttering overtaking lanes and squeezed defenders, is designed to prevent rushes and rushes from end to end – that's exactly what the Lightning likes to attack. The Columbus version is particularly physical, and although conservative training as a whole – it is not designed to worry about the counterattack – it is aggressive in that it is the defenders who intervene in the game. Back to dictate the spacing of the teams, rather than give in to what the Lightning are trying to force, which places the last line of defense on his heels, further back into his own area, thus freeing up space for Tampa to move the puck inside the blue line. Tampa wanted to use his speed so that the defense was spread out and extended; Columbus remained compact and kept Lightning's attacks slow and disjointed.

That's fine in theory, but why did not it work in the regular season when Tampa swept Columbus? "They've never done it in the regular season," said Cooper, "because they're always chasing us."

In the end, it could be as simple as that: in these games, the Blue Jackets scored the first goal. In the regular season, when Columbus fell behind, they had to abandon their game plan at least a little because they knew they would need to score. But in this series, they scored the first goal in three of the four games (in fact, they took 2-0 early in the last three) and were able to fully engage in the 1-2-2 failure . In theory, Tampa has enough talent to adapt to a system that hinders it. In practice, they did not need much to get away from their first game plan – the curse of being so dominant. Stamkos admitted that Columbus "ran a fairly detailed game plan to slow us down and we did not really get an answer."

The Blue Jackets played their game and the Lightning, for whatever reason, could not and did not play theirs. What is left to say after that? Well, excuses, maybe.

Tampa is still contractually in a good position. The core of the team will be back; of course, it's pretty much the same core that has been lacking in the last few springs. This year was supposed to be different. It was different, but in a way that would not have been plausible in a nightmare.

And Columbus? I do not doubt that grumpy fans will ask me why so much text is devoted to the losers of the series and so little to the winners. But there will be more chances to write about the Blue Jackets this spring. Because they've won a playoff series and are moving on to something else.