NHL’s best blows 3-goal lead in a stunning loss
After the first completed game, the 2019 NHL playoffs are already going far differently than anyone imagined.
The Stanley Cup favorite Lightning, who tied an NHL record with 62 regularseason wins, squandered a three-goal lead and fell 4-3 to the Blue Jackets in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal.
NHL postseason upsets are more common than in other sports, but this one will draw attention because the Lightning were dominant during the regular season and the Blue Jackets were forced to scramble to qualify for the playoffs.
The Lightning had not blown a threegoal lead all season.
In the regular season, the Lightning were 3-0 against the Blue Jackets and outscored them 17-3.
Tampa Bay was such a force that it outscored opponents by 103 goals during the season. The Lightning didn’t look like the same team on Wednesday night. Not even close.
Their offensive push was lacking, and their defensive coverage was sloppy. The tying goal was a short-handed effort by Josh Anderson against the NHL’s best power play.
The win should provide a major confidence boost to the Blue Jackets, who made a major aggressive trade-deadline decision to keep potential free agents Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky and then dealt for Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel in a bold “all-in” strategy to make the playoffs.
After giving up three first-period goals, Bobrovsky settled in and finished with 26 saves.
“People can criticize him,” Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella told reporters, “but we don’t have a chance if he doesn’t play the way he plays the last 40 (minutes).”
Seth Jones, with an assist by Panarin, scored the game-winner at 14:05 of the third period.
The loss should be an eye opener for the Lightning, who had such a big lead in the standings that complacency was their most difficult opponent down the stretch.
They most certainly will feel urgency to win Game 2 on Friday. The Lightning don’t want to go to Columbus for Game 3 trailing 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
When the Blue Jackets are playing well, Nationwide Arena can be a tough place for a visiting team. The cannon, which fires when the Blue Jackets score, seems louder. Columbus is a college town, and people know how to rock the house.
In Game 2, the Lightning will be looking for more out of Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point, who didn’t have a point in Game 1. Those three each scored 40 or more goals but were a combined -4 in Game 1.
It’s an NHL tradition for quality teams to lose in the playoffs. Lowerseeded teams win 35% of the time in the first round. Favorites often lose games. It’s almost expected.
But not when a team wins 62 games in the regular season. And not when a team is such an overwhelming favorite to win it all.