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After a historic year in which the Lightning tied, recording the record-high 62 NHL regular season wins, Tampa Bay failed to win a single playoff game.
The Lightning were eliminated from the playoffs Tuesday night in Columbus, swept in four games by the Blue Jackets – and quite emphatically. After taking a 3-0 lead in the first game, the Blue Jackets rallied to win 4-3 and never got more tense in the series. A spectacular 7-3 victory on Tuesday closed the series, making the Lightning the first NHL history team to win the Presidents Trophy and be swept in the first round.
The Tampa Bay night had a tough start as 19-year-old Blue Texts rookie Alexandre Texier scored his first career goal in the playoffs at two and a half minutes of the game. Columbus' Pierre-Luc Dubois doubled the lead a little over a minute later, forcing Tampa into a difficult situation.
The Lightning found a little life later in the first period when Steven Stamkos finally scored his first goal of the series. That goal was made possible by a disastrous turnaround by Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones, who spit the puck down the boards. Stamkos was able to sneak between two so-called defenders before hitting Sergei Bobrovsky.
After the teams qualified for the first intermission with Columbus leading 2-1, the Blue Jackets were able to double their heads in the middle of the table. They took a 3-1 lead when Jones shot a shot from the six-and-a-half point mark after the start of the second period – a vivid punch for a Tampa team that seemed to want to take a shot at it. momentum.
The Lightning refused to expand and were able to return to the match with a goal from Cedric Paquette and later on their first power play opportunity since Game 2. Brayden Point was able to convert that opportunity by equalizing the score was 3-3 at the end of the second period.
The equalizer did not last less than a minute, but the Blue Jackets striker, Oliver Bjorkstrand, quickly took over the advantage by taking advantage of it. a loose bounce in the fold of Tampa Bay.
This goal proved to be the winner and winner of the series, the 4-3 lead remaining until the final minutes of regulation when Columbus added three neutral nets.
This is an incredibly disappointing end to the season for the Lightning: a dominant team most of the season has ended with a record 128 points in the standings and has been the favorite for the playoffs. Tampa Bay and coach Jon Cooper are now going to have to ask why things collapsed so quickly and so drastically.
As for the Blue Jackets, they write an incredible story of underdogs on a team that has chosen to aggressively attack at the trade deadline, only to fight in the second half and barely slip into the playoffs. But this fragile finish no longer means anything since they managed to dive an emphatic dagger into the league's best team to win the first playoff series in the franchise's history.
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