2019 Tampa Bay Lightning–Columbus Blue Jackets playoff series
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The 2019 Stanley Cup Eastern Conference First Round series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Columbus Blue Jackets was a playoff series in the National Hockey League's (NHL) 2018–19 season. The series began on April 10, 2019 and ended on April 16.
2019 Stanley Cup playoffs | |||||||||||||||||||
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Location(s) | Columbus: Nationwide Arena (3, 4) Tampa Bay: Amalie Arena (1, 2) | ||||||||||||||||||
Coaches | Columbus: John Tortorella Tampa Bay: Jon Cooper | ||||||||||||||||||
Captains | Columbus: Nick Foligno Tampa Bay: Steven Stamkos | ||||||||||||||||||
Referees | Marc Joannette, Jon McIsaac (1) Francis Charron, Gord Dwyer (2) Wes McCauley, Brian Pochmarra (3) Kelly Sutherland, Chris Lee (4) | ||||||||||||||||||
Dates | April 10–16 | ||||||||||||||||||
Networks | Canada (English): Sportsnet Canada (French): TVA Sports United States (English) (National): USA (1), CNBC (2 and 4) and NBCSN (3) Columbus: Fox Sports Ohio Tampa Bay: Fox Sports Sun | ||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | John Forslund and Pierre McGuire (Games 1–2, 4); John Forslund and Brian Boucher (Game 3); (NBC Sports and Sportsnet) Jeff Rimer and Jody Shelley (Fox Sports Ohio) Rick Peckham and Brian Engblom (Fox Sports Sun) | ||||||||||||||||||
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The 2018–19 NHL season saw the Tampa Bay Lightning tie the 1995–96 Detroit Red Wings for the most regular season wins in NHL history. The Columbus Blue Jackets came into the series as the eighth seed, finishing with 98 points and qualifying for the playoffs in their second to last game. Tampa Bay won the Presidents' Trophy with 128 points and had beaten Columbus in all three regular season meetings by a combined score of 17 to 3. The Lightning were seen by analysts as the overwhelming favorites to win the series. However, the series ended in a shocking elimination for the Lightning; they blew a 3–0 lead at the end of the first period and lost Game 1, 4–3. The Blue Jackets subsequently won Game 2, 5–1 and, in Columbus, Ohio, won games 3 and 4, 3–1 and 7–3 respectively. The series concluded with Columbus sweeping the Lightning in four games, with a +11 goal differential, while never trailing in the final three games.
The series marked several NHL records. Tampa's elimination was the first time a Presidents' Trophy winner was swept by an eighth seed.[1] It was the fifth time in NHL history that a team with the best regular season record got swept in the First Round (and the first time since the Expansion Era). The Blue Jackets' victory was their first ever playoff series win in franchise history.[1] It was also the first time that a Presidents' Trophy winner was eliminated in the first round since 2012, though this would happen again in 2023.
Many commentators consider this series to be one of the greatest upsets in NHL history, considering that the Blue Jackets trailed the Lightning by 30 points exactly during the regular season. Jeremy Roenick of NBC Sports described Tampa's elimination as "one of the biggest letdowns in history", while the Tampa Bay Times described it as "the disappointment that all others are measured against".[2]
The two teams would once again play each other the next year in the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Lightning would avenge the previous year's loss winning that series 4–1 and would eventually go on to win the Stanley Cup. Tampa Bay would go on to win back-to-back Stanley Cups in the 2020 and 2021 Stanley Cup playoffs, and would make it back to the Stanley Cup Finals in the 2022 Stanley Cup playoffs.