The great 8-seeds: Avs could also make history by eliminating Calgary tonight

Everyone loves an underdog story, well... everyone except the Tampa Bay Lightning, and maybe later tonight, the Calgary Flames. In over a century of NHL existence, never have two conference champions been eliminated in the first round of playoffs.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were the first Goliath to fall, swept away in four games by the Columbus Blue Jackets. Additionally, this was the first time a President’s Trophy winning team has ever exited the postseason with zero wins. We may never see something so devastatingly chaotic than this playoff crumble in our lifetimes.

Looking ahead to tonight, the Calgary Flames are just one loss away from joining the Lightning in an unpredictable and historical first round exit. The Colorado Avalanche lead the series 3-1, and are riding a flaming hot three game win streak, including two overtime victories after trailing in the third.

Everything is peaking right now for the Avalanche. Rantanen, who missed the final eight games of the regular season due to injury has been an immediate impact upon return. The winger has tallied six points this post-season, including scoring the game tying and overtime winning goal last game.

The Avalanche are sitting in a statistically safe spot, as teams leading 3-1 have a 90.7 per cent chance of winning the series.

“So you’re saying there’s a chance?” Technically, yes. Colorado has blown a 3-1 playoff lead two previous times, in 1998 against the Edmonton Oilers, and 2003 against the Minnesota Wild.

They say third time’s a charm. Calgary might need to shake the magic 8 ball (and seed) to hope to come out of this series alive.

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