By Lyle Richardson, Featurd
The hockey world remains stunned by the Tampa Bay Lightning's first-round sweep from the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
This series was a mismatch but not the way most fans and pundits expected. The Blue Jackets dominated the Lightning at both ends of the rink. Their aggressive forechecking forced Tampa Bay's defensemen into making costly mistakes. Thanks in part to stellar goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky, they did a fine job containing the Lightning's best forwards.
The Jackets deserve praise for sweeping the Lightning, but it wasn't supposed to go down like that.