April 10-16, 2019 -- Columbus wins its first playoff round by sweeping Tampa Bay:On paper, it seemed like a historic mismatch. Tampa Bay romped its way through the regular season, tying an NHL record with 62 victories while leading the NHL in scoring, power-play percentage and penalty kill percentage. Columbus, meanwhile, appeared to be sputtering its way out of the playoffs before winning seven of its last eight to clinch a postseason berth. It was billed as hockey's version of David and Goliath, and it appeared to be going to script when the Lightning took a 3-0 lead in the first period of Game 1. But Sergei Bobrovsky made a huge save to keep it that way, and Columbus battled back to take a 4-3 win. From there, the tight checking, physical Blue Jackets -- boosted by a strong power play, excellent goaltending and an opportunistic offense -- dominated Game 2 by a 5-1 score, then returned home to gut out a Game 3 win by a 3-1 score. Game 4 was nothing short of deafening in Nationwide Arena, with Columbus going up 2-0 early, taking a 4-3 lead on Oliver Bjorkstrand's goal late in the second and then clinching it with a trio of empty-netters in the third. Finally, a form of jubilation that had escaped the franchise for its history was real.
Nov. 18, 2016 -- Matt Calvert gets hit with a slap shot, then scores the winner vs. New York: There may be no more Matt Calvert tale than this one. It was a random November night, early in the year, but the gritty winger's toughness was on full display against the Rangers. He put his body on the line to block a shot by Nick Holden in the second period and immediately crumpled to the ice when it hit him right in the face, covering the ice with blood. Calvert left with a towel to his face, but it wasn't enough to keep him down, as he returned to the game with his head wrapped in bandages. Then, with 8:25 to go, he won the game, breaking a 2-2 tie by streaking down the right wing shorthanded and firing a wrist shot past Henrik Lundqvist.
