Heading into the NHL Playoffs, the Tampa Bay Lightning was everyone's favorite to win it all. The team tied an NHL record of 62 wins in the regular season and were four points off the largest point-total of all time, with 128. It was a season for the ages and everyone was excited to see how the team would do. In the first round, they drew the Columbus Blue Jackets, a team that had never won a playoff series. Whether you want to call it the greatest upset of all time or the greatest collapse of all time, it doesn't matter because the Blue Jackets swept the Lightning in four games.
After being down 3-0 in the first game, the Blue Jackets fought back and won 4-3. From there, they took complete control of the series and the Lightning were left in the dust.
After game four, Lightning head coach Jon Cooper spoke about his team's failure.
"When you have the amount of points we had, it's a blessing and a curse, in a way. You don't play any meaningful hockey for a long time. Then all of a sudden, you have to ramp it up. It's not an excuse. It's reality," Cooper said according to ESPN. "That's how it goes: You have a historic regular season, and we had a historic playoff."
The Blue Jackets will play the winner of the series between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Boston Bruins.
