3 reasons why the Blue Jackets swept the Lightning

The Columbus Blue Jackets completed one of the most stunning upsets in the history of the NHL, sweeping the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-3 victory on Tuesday.

Tampa Bay captured the Presidents’ Trophy after finishing with a 62-16-4 record during the regular season, while Nikita Kucherov scored the most points since the salary cap was instituted, but its profound success didn’t translate against a red-hot Columbus squad.

The Blue Jackets will play the winner of the Toronto Maple Leafs-Boston Bruins series in the second round.

Here are three reasons why the Blue Jackets are advancing, while the Lightning will spend their summer wondering what went awry.

Bobrovsky clearly outshone Vasilevskiy

Prior to the series, it was reasoned that if the Blue Jackets were to have any chance against the juggernaut Lightning, Sergei Bobrovsky would need to outduel his countryman, Andrei Vasilevskiy. Bobrovsky won this matchup and it wasn’t particularly close, summing up the tenor of the series.

Although he faced a much larger volume of shots throughout the series, Bobrovsky posted a sparkling .931 save percentage and completely suppressed Tampa Bay’s league-best attack, making it nearly impossible for his opponent to mount a comeback in the latter three games. Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy in 2013 and 2017 but it could be argued given the context of Tampa Bay’s regular-season dominance that this was his finest hour.

Vasilevskiy, on the other hand, went through one of his worst stretches of the season at the most inopportune time possible. Widely considered to be a candidate for the Vezina this season, the 24-year-old couldn’t withstand the Blue Jackets’ tenacious attack, posting a dreadful .855 save percentage on 104 shots. There are several culprits for the swift exit, but at a time when the Lightning needed some key saves from their standout goaltender to change the trajectory of the series, Vasilevskiy came up lacking, looking far from the player that was impenetrable for most of the year.

Kucherov, Stamkos, Point completely non-existent

Where did you go, Kucherov? What happened to you, Brayden Point? Et tu, Steven Stamkos? Tampa Bay’s failure was a collective effort but the shocking lack of production from its three-headed offensive monster absolutely helped swing the series in Columbus’ favour.

Kucherov established himself as the Hart Trophy favourite after notching 41 goals and a league-best 128 points but was a net-negative for the Lightning, showing none of the superb vision and playmaking ability that captivated the NHL this year. Adding insult to injury, Kucherov completely lost his composure in Game 2, earning a one-game suspension after needlessly drilling Blue Jackets defenceman Markus Nutivaara into the boards. This poor showing may lead to the most awkward Hart Trophy and Art Ross Trophy presentation in league history.

Stamkos and Point were almost equally at fault as well. After quietly posting the best season of his career, Stamkos couldn’t find a way onto the scoresheet until Game 4, but it was too little, too late. Boasting one of the NHL’s best releases, Stamkos couldn’t solve Bobrovsky for large stretches and appeared to be increasingly frustrated as the series bore on. The same could be said of Point, whose play completely tailed off around mid-March.

Kucherov (first in total power-play points), Stamkos (second) and Point (seventh) were the catalysts for the Lightning’s league-best power play during the regular season, but they lacked the cohesion that made them a nightmare for opposing coaches to game plan against. It’s going to be a cruel summer for the Lightning’s star trio.

Blue Jackets’ balanced attack

It would be a complete disservice to the Blue Jackets if we didn’t mention their scoring exploits, rolling four lines that kept the Lightning completely off balance. While the Lightning relied heavily on their aforementioned trio, the Blue Jackets were consistently able to drive possession and high-danger scoring chances regardless of who took the ice.

While trade-deadline acquisition Matt Duchene will likely generate most of the headlines, six Blue Jackets (Duchene, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Seth Jones, Alexandre Texier, Artemi Panarin, Cam Atkinson) notched two goals or more while 20-year Pierre-Luc Dubois showed flashes of future stardom. Jones and partner Zach Werenski were the best pairing in the series, showcasing well-rounded offensive games and provided the Blue Jackets with even more secondary scoring.

After sweeping the Lightning in convincing fashion, nobody will be taking the Blue Jackets lightly as they await the winner of the Bruins-Maple Leafs first-round series.

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