Hello, Déjà vu.
Just last year, the Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning found themselves in the exact same position. Pitted against each other in the first round of the NHL playoffs, the Blue Jackets – a sizable underdog – rolled through the Lightning for a 4-0 series sweep. It was the first time in the two-decade history of the team that Columbus had won a postseason series.
A season later, Columbus is once again set to take on Tampa Bay, and it again doesn't need to look far to find any doubters – even after beating the Toronto Maple Leafs in a five-game Stanley Cup Qualifying series.
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| TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING |
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43–21–6 (92 points) ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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3 P.M. – TUESDAY, AUG. 11 SCOTIABANK ARENA TORONTO, ON |
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FOX SPORTS OHIO, NBCSN FOX SPORTS GO |
Team captain Nick Foligno needs no explanation of why those outside the Blue Jackets locker room have brought up what happened last year. However, he doesn't view the parallels as quite as strong.
"It's just the same teams. That's it," Foligno said. "There's a lot of differences, a lot of things that both teams have gone through. It's a whole new season. That's a storyline for you guys to write. For us, we're just concerned about ourselves. I think that's how we've always kind of approached things. It's a great storyline, but that was in the past and we're looking forward to this opportunity to have to continue to move on and chase that dream that we've both talked about of winning the Stanley Cup."
The team's path to the Cup continues on Tuesday afternoon when Game 1 of the seven-game series begins at 3 p.m. in a fan-free Scotiabank Arena in Toronto.
After getting by Toronto in a turbulent five-game series with both teams coming back from 3-0 deficits to win in overtime and each team having moments where they looked as though they were overmatched, the Blue Jackets are looking for their second-straight playoff series win for the first time in franchise history. They've only won two postseason series ever – in 2019 and 2020.
| Date | Result |
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| 2/10/20 | TBL 2, CBJ 1 // HIGHLIGHTS |
To get past Tampa Bay, Columbus will again be relying heavily on Joonas Korpisalo and one of the league's deepest group of defensemen to stifle the Lightning's offensive attack.
It'll need its physical, forechecking style to penetrate Tampa Bay, too. The Lightning ranked eighth in the regular season by allowing 2.77 goals per game. For Columbus, scoring with consistency has been an issue it's had to overcome.
"I think we've proven over the year that we've become a good team, and obviously our history with playing them last year, I'm sure they're looking to make it a series and we're excited about the opportunity," Foligno said. "I think we had an emotional one this past one and don't have a lot of time to think about it and get ready for a really good team in Tampa, and we're excited about moving on in this bubble tournament."
Columbus Blue Jackets Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | ALEXANDRE TEXIER | 18 | PIERRE-LUC DUBOIS | 13 | CAM ATKINSON |
| 19 | LIAM FOUDY | 20 | RILEY NASH | 28 | OLIVER BJORKSTRAND |
| 14 | GUSTAV NYQUIST | 38 | BOONE JENNER | 71 | NICK FOLIGNO |
| 50 | ERIC ROBINSON | 10 | ALEXANDER WENNBERG | 24 | NATHAN GERBE |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | ZACH WERENSKI | 3 | SETH JONES |
| 44 | VLADISLAV GAVRIKOV | 58 | DAVID SAVARD |
| 27 | RYAN MURRAY | 14 | DEAN KUKAN |
| Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | JOONAS KORPISALO | 90 | ELVIS MERZLIKINS |
Tampa Bay Lightning Projected Lines
| LW | C | RW | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | ONDREJ PALAT | 21 | BRAYDEN POINT | 86 | NIKITA KUCHEROV |
| 17 | ALEX KILLORN | 71 | ANTHONY CIRELLI | 9 | TYLER JOHNSON |
| 19 | BARCLAY GOODROW | 37 | YANNI GOURDE | 20 | BLAKE COLEMAN |
| 14 | PATRICK MAROON | 67 | MITCHELL STEPHENS | 13 | CEDRIC PAQUETTE |
| LD | RD | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 77 | VICTOR HEDMAN | 44 | JAN RUTTA |
| 27 | RYAN MCDONAGH | 81 | ERIK CERNAK |
| 98 | MIKHAIL SERGACHEV | 22 | KEVIN SHATTENKIRK |
| Goalie | Backup | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 88 | ANDREI VASILEVSKIY | 35 | CURTIS MCELHINNEY |
Storylines
- Two postseason series wins?: Foligno might not be interested in anybody talking about this series being a rematch of what happened last postseason, but it's undeniably something people watching these games will point out. What makes it even more interesting, of course, is the fact that if Columbus wins four games, this will be the first time in franchise history that it wins two postseason series. Last year, it swept the Lightning for its first series victory, and a year later it'll have the chance to do the same with Blue Jackets history on the line.
- The power play: To propel an offense that showcased its inefficiency in the series with the Maple Leafs, the Blue Jackets need more out of their power-play unit that went scoreless in all five games against Toronto. It wasn't for a lack of trying, Tortorella said, but rather a lack of execution. Considering how often the Lightning can score, it would stand to reason that Columbus won't be able to get out of the seven-game series by again scoring a grand total of zero goals on the power play. That's been an issue for a while, with the Blue Jackets ranking 27th in the NHL with a power-play goal rate of 16.4 percent. It's past time to fix it.
- Another standout offense: One of the key matchups going into the series with Toronto was Columbus' stellar, deep defense facing a high-powered offensive attack led by Auston Matthews, William Nylander, Mitch Marner and John Tavares. Tampa Bay be a similar opponent for the Blue Jackets in that regard. The Lightning led the NHL with 3.47 goals scored per game in the regular season, power by the play of Nikita Kucherov who recorded a team-high 85 points (33 goals, 52 assists). Brayden Point (25 goals, 39 assists) will also be a factor. Working in the Blue Jackets favor is that Steven Stamkos is out indefinitely, will miss Game 1 and could remain sidelined. The status of Victor Hedman is unknown, too, and he could be out.
