WTF Happened to the Tampa Bay Lightning?

[Jammen]

How on earth can you be 21 points better than the second place team in the league and getting swept out of the playoffs? They didn’t lose 3 games in a row all year and now it happens? Heads should roll if they get swept. I’m not even a fan of them but they were unstoppable in the regular season. Crazy!

 

[tke001]

That's NHL playoff hockey! #1 and 2 seeds lose in the first round all the time. In the NBA it has happened 2 or 3 times I think. Some great Red Wings teams of the 90s and other great regular season teams do this.

 

[WhiskeyFix]

Players have a different mindset in the Playoffs and the game completely changes.

A team like Columbus is going to be hungry as hell to prove that they're not a fluke team getting into the playoffs and they can hang with Tampa.

Tampa just got too comfortable thinking they were playing a weaker team.

 

[DAVID KEHRER]

It happens red wings did the same thing 3 times best record and lose first round.

 

[619Leafs]

Tampa Bay went from first to zero in a matter of a week. Could not have thought that.

 

[Lisavandervelden12]

Just crazy man.....they should have won more stanley cups the past ten years then 1

 

[ACESOVEREZZZ]

Kiss of death

As noted it seems looking at NHL history winning the presidents cup for the best record is the "kiss of death". Happened to the Redwings as noted and not a surprise to me when top team in regular season is knocked out early.

Maybe they just overlooked Columbus but as we all know when the playoffs begin everyone's record is 0 - 0.. Look at what the AVS are doing as well. Certainly they were not picked to beat the Flames..

 

[mtl mile end]

High flying offensive juggernauts that wrap up a Playoff spot over a month before the Season's end are pretty much doomed to failure - unless they have great goaltending and defense. Tampa did not have these. This is why they they did better in previous years when they had great goaltending and defensive responsibility on lesser offensive teams.

 

[Lisavandervelden12]

High flying offensive juggernauts that wrap up a Playoff spot over a month before the Season's end are pretty much doomed to failure - unless they have great goaltending and defense. Tampa did not have these. This is why they they did better in previous years when they had great goaltending and defensive responsibility on lesser offensive teams.

Didnt tampa have qn allstar goalie though

 

[mtl mile end]

Didnt tampa have qn allstar goalie though

Ooops! They sure do. I forgot about Andrei Vasilevskiy. I'm sure I looked up their stats last week and read about their great offense, amazing power play, and mediocre goaltending - I think I was dreaming (one third of the time). I was thinking about how Ben Bishop and solid defense carried them pretty deep in previous seasons. I did not watch this series, but seeing all that high priced offensive talent melting down on the highlights didn't make me feel like they were going to survive. I think the only real surprise here is the sweep - and the comeback in Game 1 that seemed to decide everything.

 

[mk0523]

Apparently Blue Jackets are a good source to control lightning bolts Amazing how a team could be so dominant offensively during the regular season and look so helpless at times. Surprising enough that they lost this early and shocking that they were swept. Columbus looked like a completely different team as if they were coasting in the regular season not even really trying and than decided to turn it up several notches once the playoffs started and that took Tampa Bay completely off guard.

 

[ssangyongpoker]

sports is rigged.. plain and simple

 

[Lisavandervelden12]

sports is rigged.. plain and simple

Stop....just stop dude

U lost some bets, probably 5 dollar bets..and nownits all rigged

 

[Jammen]

And now Calgary is out too, messed up year for hockey playoffs. Just don’t let Toronto win!!! #anyonebuttheleafs

 

[99TERRANCE99]

Crazy both number 1 seeds went out easy

 

[mtl mile end]

Momentum is EVERYTHING! An adage proved by 20/20 hindsight on a daily basis.

 

[Richardszabo]

Huge surprise! I think no one understands what happened. The same surprise is Colorado's victory. Farewell to Pittsburgh, i don't think it's a big surprise.

.

 

[ChickenArise]

I think this channel said it best...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz3lq6HUdGc

 

[Steve Deeble]

Still can’t believe they fell apart first round, Columbus made them look silly lol such a waste.