"Yeah, it sucks," said Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who had 128 points in the regular season but was kept off the scoresheet until Tuesday night. A close race for the Presidents’ Trophy is a good thing as it creates competition. The Lightning are the first team ever in the expansion era to get swept in the first round after leading the league in points. But they outplayed the Lightning with a smothering forecheck and stellar goaltending by Sergei Bobrovsky.Columbus won its first-ever playoff series on its fifth try and advances to play the winner of the Boston-Toronto series, which the Maple Leafs lead 2-1. ".Stamkos, Cedric Paquette and Brayden Point scored for Tampa Bay, which never led in this elimination game. But even the most optimistic Blue Jackets fan couldn’t have dreamed of sweeping the Lightning.It’s an historic result. But the Blue Jackets went 5-for-10 with the man advantage.Meanwhile, Tampa Bay’s league-leading power play only scored one goal against the Blue Jackets.“They did a lot of good things and we didn’t have an answer for them,” said Tampa Bay captain Steven Stamkos, a 45-goal scorer who only had one in this playoff series. This wasn’t the script. A dozen different players scored for the Blue Jackets in the series, while the Lightning’s best players were grounded: Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos were held to just two points, Brayden Point had just one of his namesake, and Victor Hedman was scratched with an unknown injury.Somehow making it even worse for the Lightning, this was the first playoff series win for the Blue Jackets in franchise history. But few saw this upset coming. The Oilers would go on to lose in the Stanley Cup Finals in seven games to the Carolina Hurricanes.The San Jose Sharks won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2009, then promptly lost to the Anaheim Ducks in six games in the first round. ".The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, didn't clinch the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot until the 81st game. There was just one problem. “You could feel how much the city needed and wanted this. Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point and Tyler Johnson only combined for two goals in the four games. There have been six teams to win the Presidents’ Trophy by a margin of 10 or more points. I think this is a really good foundation, (and) you can do some really crazy things if you stay together as a unit. Prior to this sweep, the worst result for a Presidents’ Trophy winner was held by the 2012 Vancouver Canucks, who lost in five games to the Los Angeles Kings.The Canucks had come one game away from the Stanley Cup the year before and were once again the best team in the NHL during the regular season. ".Rookie Alexandre Texier, who was brought over after his season ended in the Finnish league, scored his first NHL goal and later added one of the empty-netters. The Lightning weren’t the same team we saw throughout the season.Foligno said he was “thrilled” that the Blue Jackets were able to wrap up the series for the fans’ sake. Tampa Bay tied the NHL record for wins with 62 and amassed 128 points, fourth in NHL history.

I don't know what to say. But few saw this upset coming. This year, the Blue Jackets made a bold decision at the trade deadline to keep potential unrestricted free agents Sergei Bobrovsky and Artemi Panarin and then traded for Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.“It’s a hard league to gain respect and we are going about it the right way,” Columbus coach John Tortorella said.Tortorella is a fiery, tough-talking, aggressive coach, and that’s how the Blue Jackets played against the Lightning. Not only were they stymied by Jonathan Quick, but they had a goaltending controversy of their own, turning to Cory Schneider over Roberto Luongo halfway through the series.It’s an ugly finish to a beautiful season for the 2019 Lightning, just as it was for the 2012 Canucks.