It took a while for the Columbus Blue Jackets to make the playoffs, and after it finally happened, the expectations from fans have been through the roof.
For the players, it's important to learn from prior experiences. For fans, it's good to know when your team has the goods to make it on to the next round. Going through the history of the Blue Jackets' playoff appearances, you can see why the team didn't make it out of the first round. It happened for one glaring reason or another.
2009 First Round vs. Detroit Red Wings
Result: First Round Sweep
You Oughta Know: 34. That is the number of penalty minutes that the Blue Jackets accumulated in their Game 2 loss against the Red Wings. Defenseman Mike Commodore had a game misconduct accounting for 10 of those minutes. The Blue Jackets would get shut out 4-0 during that game.
Blue Jackets Series MVP: R.J. Umberger, he led the team during the playoffs with three goals, and he also had a CF% at even strength that put him near the top of the team. The Red Wings would go on to lose in the Stanley Cup in 2008-09, but the Blue Jackets team was better than anyone gave it credit for.
2014 First Round vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Result: Series loss in six games
You Oughta Know: 23. Those are the number of shots that Brandon Dubinsky had in the series against the Penguins. They were also the most any Blue Jacket has had in a series. He was also a point per game player during the series. While he didn't completely shut down center Sidney Crosby, he did enough to keep it close. Every game except for Game 5 was a total coin flip at some point.
Blue Jackets Series MVP: Jack Johnson. He had poor shot metrics during the series, but Johnson was over a point per game. He kept the Blue Jackets in games singlehandedly at times and also nearly played 30 minutes a night. It would be a performance that was discussed at greater length if the team moved on to the next round.
2017 First Round vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
Result: Series loss in five games
You Oughta Know: 42.9. This is the lowest shot differential in the series from a Blue Jacket. This came from Sonny Milano in the one game he played. The Blue Jackets put plenty of rubber on the Penguins but they just weren't able to cash in. The lack of a difference maker made a huge difference at the end of the day.
Blue Jackets Series MVP: William Karlsson. Not many Blue Jackets scored in this series. They were stonewalled for most of it despite numerous chances. The only players that seemed to have any scoring touch in the series were Karlsson, Anderson, and Atkinson. Karlsson has since moved on to the Vegas Golden Knights and become an offensive monster in his own right.
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