That wasn’t the only evidence of Tampa Bay unraveling at the seams.
Towards the end of Game 2, NBCSN’s Pierre McGuire caught this exchange between Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman and the Blue Jackets’ bench:
“Victor Hedman comes over and says to the Columbus bench, ‘You guys are really good at this. Last year you were up 2-0 too. How’d it end up?'”@NHLonNBCSports Inside-the-Glass analyst Pierre McGuire caught the exchange at the end of Columbus’ 5-1 win vs. Tampa on Friday. pic.twitter.com/QXOP0XY4Qn
— NBC Sports PR (@NBCSportsPR) April 13, 2019
That’s the quintessential version of sour grapes. Is it a reason the Lightning lost? No. However, chirping the opposition about last year while getting smoked 5-1 on home ice is never a good look. Chirping and trash talk are always going to be part of the game of hockey, but the optics are terrible when you’re talking smack while down four goals late in the third period.
And I haven’t even gotten to Stamkos’s sucker punch on Foligno towards the end of Game 3 when that contest was in the bag as well. Three of the Bolts’ best players made decisions born out of anger (Kucherov), saltiness (Hedman), or frustration (Stamkos). The Blue Jackets clearly took the Lightning out of their game. It showed in how some of the Bolts’ stars reacted. Since we’re on the subject of star players….
Tampa Bay’s stars didn’t show up until it was too late, while Columbus’s shone brightly all series.
While depth scoring is nice, your star players have to be your star players in the playoffs. Through three games, the three players who drive the Lightning’s offensive engine, Stamkos, Kucherov, and Point, combined for zero points and a minus-9 rating. While plus-minus is an outdated stat, it’s still telling that the Lightning’s top trio of stars was on the ice for so many goals against. Although they each hit the score sheet in Game 4, it was too little, too late by then.
The Lightning’s leading scorer in this series? Cernak, who tallied three points, all assists. While Cernak had a promising rookie season and looks to be a key member of this team for years to come, under no circumstances should a rookie blue-liner lead the team in scoring. Cernak turned out to be the Lightning’s best defenseman this series, while Anthony Cirelli was the Bolts’ best forward. No offense to Cirelli, who should be a crucial player on this team for many years to come as well, but when he’s your best forward in a playoff series, that’s a problem when you’re loaded with star power.
On the other side, the Blue Jackets received all sorts of key contributions from their big stars. Matt Duchene tallied three goals and four assists, while Artemi Panarin notched two goals and three assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored two game-winning goals to go along with two assists. Zach Werenski finished with five points from the blue line, while Seth Jones ended the series with four, with each of them scoring a game-winning goal.
