This series loss simply can’t be pinned on one thing or player.
Lets start off by giving Columbus a lot of credit. As I wrote in my series preview, the Blue Jackets were a solid team that’s able to score, own a tremendous top defensive pair, and have a goalie in Sergei Bobrovsky who elevated his game late in the season. Despite finishing as the second wild card, the Jackets finished with 98 points, better than three Western Conference playoff teams: Vegas (93 points), Dallas (93), and Colorado (90). If Columbus resides in the Central Division, they would’ve been in the running for a division title heading into the season’s final two weeks.
They won seven of their last eight games and ended the season 12th in goals per game (3.12) and 11th in goals against per game (2.82). In addition, they finished in the upper half of the league in most puck-possession metrics, including 12th in expected goals percentage (50.87), per Natural Stat Trick. Where everyone went wrong in predicting this series was assuming that Columbus was simply running into a juggernaut. As we saw over the course of those six stunning days and four games, that didn’t turn out to be the case. This wasn’t your father’s eighth seed.
Game 1: The Lightning let off the gas and the Blue Jackets responded.
During the opening period of Game 1, the Bolts roared out to a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Alex Killorn, Anthony Cirelli, and Yanni Gourde. Amalie Arena was rocking. Tampa Bay swarmed Columbus, using their speed and skill to generate numerous chances. Bobrovsky looked shaky and the Jackets were on the ropes. In the second period, Kucherov hit the post and later got foiled by a phenomenal save by Bobrovsky. This was a play that Kucherov scores on 99 times out of 100 in the regular season. Soon after, turnovers reared their ugly head. Ryan McDonagh made a mistake with an ill-advised pass to a trailing Erik Cernak that got intercepted. Nick Foligno sped down the ice the other way and scored on a breakaway, giving the Blue Jackets life. A Victor Hedman turnover led to a goal by David Savard, cutting Tampa Bay’s lead to 3-2.
In the third period, both the game, and eventually, the series, turned on its head. With the Lightning on a power play for four minutes and a chance to give themselves breathing room, Columbus’s Josh Anderson came up with this shorthanded goal:
JOSH ANDERSON WITH THE SHORTHANDED GAME-TYING GOAL!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/iXIyTK44I1
— The Second Round Cannon (@cbjcannon) April 11, 2019
Moments later, Killorn went to the penalty box, making it 4-on-4. When that became a Columbus power play, Seth Jones buried the game-winner and the crowd at Amalie Arena was left in stunned silence wondering what the hell just happened. Tampa Bay got outplayed over the final 40 minutes and were left looking for answers. Many folks thought this would serve as a wake-up call for the Bolts. Instead, it served as the start of a nightmare.
