For Columbus fans, as the Blue Jackets stare at a 3-1 deficit in their best-of-seven series against Tampa Bay, it feels like the task at hand is akin to taking down a pachyderm dinner -- or perhaps climbing a mountain.
But to the Blue Jackets, you can't win three games in one day, starting with Wednesday afternoon's Game 5 against the Lightning. All the team can do today is win one game, a task for which it feels particularly suited given the way it approaches each day during the season.
"That really simplifies it for us," captain Nick Foligno said Tuesday. "In a way I think that's an advantage in our mind because we're a team that likes to go one day at a time, one step at a time. That's all we're thinking about, getting ready for a big game tomorrow and feeling good today and enjoying it and then stepping on the ice come noon."
It's certainly not going to be easy, but breaking the challenge into smaller bites makes it seem a lot more doable. And while many teams might be pretty discouraged by the current plight, as it's been written about ad nauseum during this playoffs, this is a Columbus team that has a pretty good ability to handle adversity.
The ball has rolled downhill pretty quickly on the Blue Jackets, who overcame a marathon Game 1 loss to post an inspiring Game 2 victory to knot the series last Thursday. Columbus came out flying Saturday night in the first 10 minutes but couldn't score, then hit the wall, physically and mentally running out of energy in a 3-2 loss.
It was another bright start in Game 4, but Columbus couldn't get a goal -- one was taken off the board because the team was offside in the opening two minutes -- and despite playing their best game of the series, the Blue Jackets lost another tight affair by a 2-1 score.
Quickly, a knotted series has turned into a win-or-go-home series for the Blue Jackets, but they also know things can change just as quickly if they take care of business Wednesday.
"We've done this all year with injuries, with people counting us out," Zach Werenski said of the resiliency the Blue Jackets have shown all season. "It's just that next-game-up mentality. We have to win the next one. We're not looking too far ahead. It's a series. We're down 3-1, but it's just the next game Wednesday at noon. We have to find that one and then away we go."
At the very least, the Blue Jackets will leave it all on the ice, as they have done all the season. From there, the chips will fall where they may.
"Do or die, right?" Cam Atkinson said. "You can expect our best for the next game."
Know the Foe
For much of the series, the talk around Tampa Bay has been about how deep and talented the Lightning roster is.
And that's fair. Even with a Richard Trophy winner (Steven Stamkos) out thus far, the Bolts have dressed a Hart Trophy winner (Nikita Kucherov), a Norris Trophy defenseman (Victor Hedman) and a Vezina-winning goaltender (Andrei Vasilevskiy).
Traditionally, when you think of a roster that loaded, thoughts go to offense, and the Lightning has earned that respect. Each of the past two years, Tampa Bay has led the NHL in scoring, averaging 3.47 goals per game this year.
But what has been most impressive about the Lightning this series has been the team's defense. So far, Tampa Bay has allowed just eight goals to the Blue Jackets in four games, an average of two per game that is even more impressive considering Game 1 went more than 7½ periods.
Credit goes all around. The team's forecheck and pressure in the neutral zone has been suffocating at times, keeping the Blue Jackets from getting into the offensive zone -- or making them do so only at the end of a shift when it's time for a change. A defensive crew that features new additions Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian this year has meshed well with standbys Hedman and Ryan McDonagh as well as up-and-comers Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak.
And a much better series has been put together by Vasilevskiy, whose save percentage has gone from .856 a year ago in the four-game sweep to .939 this year. After a bit of a shaky start, as Vasilevskiy has settled into the series, he's made key stops as the Blue Jackets have pushed at big times in Games 3 and 4.
"I think they understand the defensive side of the game," Foligno said about the Lightning's improved play. "But it's still always about us and how we can play better. When we focus on that, usually the results take care of themselves."
3 Keys to the Game
Keep improving: The Blue Jackets probably played their best game of the series in Game 4. They'll need to be even better in Game 5.
Convert: More offensive zone time was a good thing in Game 4, but you need more than one goal to win most games. The Blue Jackets just have to stick with it but convert when the chances arise.
Desperation: With their backs against the wall, the Blue Jackets need to be hard to finish off. Make the Lightning earn it.
Of Note
The Columbus penalty kill is a perfect 10-for-10 in the series. … The Blue Jackets have allowed just 12 goals in 557:10 of 5-on-5 play in nine playoff games, an average of 1.29 goals allowed per 60 minutes. ... Pierre-Luc Dubois (4-5-9) leads Columbus in scoring in nine postseason games and has a goal and four helpers in the first four games of this series. ... Thirteen different Columbus players have tallied in nine playoff games. ... Columbus led the NHL with 20 one-goal wins this season but is 0-3 in one-goal games this series. … Of the 14 goalies to play in at least five games so far in the bubble, Joonas Korpisalo is third in goals-against average (1.57) and second in save percentage (.953). … Two Blue Jackets goalies have scoreless streaks of at least 100 minutes in the playoffs thus far -- Korpisalo (111:04 in Game 1) and Elvis Merzlikins (105:38 in Games 3 and 4 vs. Toronto).
Roster Report:Columbus saw the return of Atkinson in Game 4 as well as the playoff debut of Stenlund, but it remains to be seen if any changes are on tap for Game 5.
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