The Tampa Bay Lightning close out their first round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets four games to one. This was a hard fought series from both teams and hats off to Columbus for the amount of hockey they played in such a short time. This series was a roller-coaster to watch for fans of both teams as there were many highs and lows. The Lightning, however, get their sweet, sweet revenge after last year’s four-game sweep against this same hockey club.
Let’s recap this thrilling game five overtime comeback from the Tampa Bay Lightning that advances them to round two. This was a do-or-die situation for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and at the start of the game, it was not looking well early on. The Bolts got off to a quick start and created some early chances, including a golden opportunity for Cedric Paquette, all being stopped by Joonas Korpisalo.
This man deserves a ton of credit for how well he’s played since the NHL restart. He ended his NHL postseason with a .941 save percentage and a record of 3-5. Although, the wins don’t quite show how exceptional he really was, Korpisalo was a defining factor for their success in both of their series against Toronto and Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay, however, was determined to close this series out and get some much needed time off heading into round two. Tyler Johnson opened up the scoring with a tip in after Erik Černák fired a shot from the blue line. Anthony Cirelli and Černák would both record an assist and the Lightning would take a 1-0 lead after just over five minutes of play.
There’s an old saying that Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, but the boys from Tampa Bay continued to disprove this theory, scoring another goal just over a minute following Johnson’s. This one would be credited to Blake Coleman, assisted by defensemen Zach Bogosian. So far, this was looking like a runaway game for Tampa and it seemed as though they were finally getting in the heads of both Korpisalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets.
This is where things got rather scary for head coach Jon Cooper as well as his Bolts team. After these two early goals, it seemed as though the Lightning lost all their energy and would be dominated for the next 30 minutes. Blue Jackets’ captain, Nick Foligno, would find his second goal of the playoffs just 12 minutes in. Alex Wennberg and Cam Atkinson of Columbus worked the puck in deep and threw the puck to the goalie crease where Foligno would put it home over Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Period 2 might have been the worst period of hockey ever by any Bolts roster, only recording eight shots to the 24 fired off by the Blue Jackets. The Lightning looked completely exhausted each shift and Columbus would make them pay. Kevin Stenlund found his first goal of the postseason with the help of defenseman Seth Jones and Cam Atkinson.
With plenty of Blue Jackets blocking the vision of Andrei Vasilevskiy, the puck would cross the red line to bring the Jackets within a goal of the Lightning. Columbus did not let up through the period, controlling the puck nearly the entire time and taking the lead with just 16 seconds remaining.
The goal was scored by Alex Wennberg and assisted by Foligno and Vladislav Gavrikov. The Blue Jackets had the pedal to the metal, and what looked like a runaway game for Tampa in the first, was quickly becoming a disaster in the second.
Tampa Bay was plagued by penalties in period two and were getting out-worked by a Columbus team that clearly wasn’t ready to say goodby. Like I said in my previous article, the Bolts have been lucky giving up this many penalty minutes to the Blue Jackets who seem to have a curse on their man-advantage. Columbus has only capitalized off two of their many power play chances which has been a clear weak point for John Tortorella and his club.
The Lightning, completely out-hustled in period two, would only take one positive away going into the game’s final frame. That would be their face-off win percentage which was much better than the previous game. All in all, up to this point, they’ve won 53 percent in the face-off circle.
Columbus would start the third with yet another man advantage that was carried over from the second from a roughing penalty. The Bolts would kill off this penalty which seemed to help the opposing Blue Jackets as they prefer to be at even-strength on paper. This third period was looking somewhat familiar to the second for Tampa Bay as they continued to be out-shot by the Jackets.
Oliver Bjorkstrand would give his team an insurance goal at the nine and a half minute mark, putting Columbus up 4-2. What looked to be a strong start and hopefully an easy win for Tampa in the first period was beginning to look like a series defining comeback for Tortorella’s men.
In similar fashion to their fourth game with Toronto, the Jackets would once again blow this lead as Kevin Shattenkirk found his first goal of the postseason. This was assisted by Brayden Point and Nikita Kucherov.
This goal seemed to give Tampa hope that this game was far from over and the Bolts began to play like they did in period one. Shaking off the dust from period two, Tampa Bay began to apply pressure, and as they went to pull Vasilevskiy from the net, Anthony Cirelli found a goal off his skate, once again assisted by both Kucherov and Point. Although Kucherov has not produced many goals this postseason, he is finding other ways to contribute, often being defended by multiple men as well as creating scoring chances for his line-mates. This goal would take us to yet another overtime game in this series where the win would then truly be anyone’s ballgame.
Tampa Bay would find that same wave that they were riding in the opening period and completely smother the offence of the opposing Columbus Blue Jackets. Only allowing one shot-on-goal from Columbus, it was starting to look all too familiar for the Jackets. The Lightning have dominated this series up to this point, only being outshot on both Monday and Wednesday.
Five minutes into overtime and déjà vu strikes Columbus once again, as it’s Gavrikov with a mishandled pass, intercepted by Kucherov who no-look passes it to none other Brayden Point. Point would go forehand, backhand, and find the top of the net to, once again, seal the deal for Tampa Bay. This kid is an absolute electric factory, not only getting Wednesday’s overtime game-winner, but also finishing off the record-setting game one between the Lightning and blue Jackets.
A sigh of relief for Tampa Bay and the fans who suffered through the blunder in the playoffs last year. Although this year’s roster didn’t achieve the same records, they made it through the Stanley Cup Qualifiers and the first round in a dominant fashion. This will give Tampa Bay some time off before the start of their next task as they wait for the other series to start wrapping up in the Eastern Conference Bubble.
Assuming that Philadelphia, Boston and New York can close out their series, the Lightning will then square off against the familiar faces of the Boston Bruins. If you thought this round one matchup was a sight to see, just wait until the second round. No matter who the Bolts face in the second round, one thing is for sure.
This team has heart and the much needed size and strength to win important hockey in the NHL playoffs. It helps that they brought in Patrick Maroon who has recently had a taste of champagne from Lord Stanley’s beloved chalice. He may not be a huge stat line for Tampa, but he is bringing his leadership qualities and body size to help keep the Bolts motivated and hungry throughout the postseason.
Let’s all take a breather Bolts’ fans, we have been through a lot since last year with the current pandemic that has been affecting our daily lives. Let us rejoice that Tampa Bay hockey is back, and they are looking tougher, faster and stronger. We still have tons of great hockey to watch thanks to the eastern and western bubbles and I will be keeping a close watch on the Blues/Canucks series which is currently tied at two games apiece. Hopefully, the Lightning can continue to produce W’s going into round two and lock up a spot in the Eastern Conference Finals.