Lightning vs. Blue Jackets playoff preview

Tampa Bay looks to rebound from being swept by Columbus in first round last season

By NHL.com @NHLdotcom

August 10, 2020

The first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs features 16 teams in eight best-of-7 series, which start Tuesday.

Today, NHL.com previews the series between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets, which will be played at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the hub city for the Eastern Conference.

No. 2 Tampa Bay Lightning vs. No. 7 Columbus Blue Jackets

Lightning: 2-1-0 in round-robin; 43-21-6, .657 points percentage in regular season

Blue Jackets:3-2 to win qualifier series against Toronto Maple Leafs; 33-22-15, .579 points percentage in regular season

Season series:TBL 1-0-0; CBJ 0-1-0

Game 1 is Tuesday (3 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVAS).

The Blue Jackets swept the Lightning in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round last season, an upset that remains at the forefront with the two teams meeting again.

Tampa Bay dominated throughout the 2018-19 regular season and won the Presidents' Trophy, finishing 21 points ahead of the Boston Bruins, the closest team in the East. The Blue Jackets qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs on the final day of the regular season and finished 30 points behind the Lightning.

This season, the Lightning finished second in the East and earned the No. 2 seed for the playoffs in the round-robin portion of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. The Blue Jackets were the No. 9 seed in the Qualifiers and defeated the No. 8-seeded Maple Leafs in five games in a best-of-5 series to advance and face the Lightning again.

As was the case last season, Tampa Bay could be shorthanded.

Defenseman Victor Hedman, who missed the final two games against Columbus in the series last season, was injured in the final round-robin game, a 4-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. His status for Game 1 will be decided Tuesday. Forward Steven Stamkos and defenseman Jan Rutta also are sidelined.

The Lightning insist they are not looking for revenge.

"What happened last year happened last year," coach Jon Cooper said. "That's in the history books forever. Now it's time to write your own history, and that's what we intend to do with this team. We don't know what's going to happen. But we said right from the beginning of the season, if you want to write your own history, you have to make the playoffs, and we did that."

The Blue Jackets also are not looking back on what happened last season.

"Last year is last year and this is a new year, and we feel really good as a team," said goalie Joonas Korpisalo , who made 33 saves in a 3-0 win against the Maple Leafs in Game 5, his second shutout of the series. "We're really looking forward to facing them again. It was a great way to end this series, and now we're just looking forward."

Game breakers

Lightning: Brayden Point scored three points (one goal, two assists) in the round-robin skating on a line with Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. The connection and chemistry between Point and Kucherov is notable, and it could result in the kind of offensive show that wins games and playoff series. The center, in his fourth NHL season, scored 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 66 regular-season games.

Blue Jackets:Pierre-Luc Dubois led Columbus with 49 points (18 goals, 31 assists) in 70 regular-season games and scored four points (three goals, one assist) in the five games against Toronto. The center scored in overtime to complete a hat trick and help the Blue Jackets win 4-3 in Game 3 after they trailed by three goals.

Goaltending

Lightning: Andrei Vasilevskiy, who won the Vezina Trophy voted as the best goalie in the NHL last season and is a finalist this season, is looking to make up for a poor performance against Columbus in the 2019 playoffs, when he had a 3.82 goals-against average and .856 save percentage in the four-game sweep. He was 2-1-0 with a 2.28 GAA and .921 save percentage in the round-robin after finishing 35-14-3 with a 2.56 GAA and .917 save percentage during the regular season.

Blue Jackets:The Blue Jackets used Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins against the Maple Leafs, and each was effective. Korpisalo was 2-1 with a 1.45 GAA, a .956 save percentage and two shutouts. Merzlikins was 1-1 with a 1.96 GAA and .946 save percentage before being deemed unfit to play in Game 5. Merzlikins is not available for Game 1 against the Lightning.

Numbers to know

Lightning: When Tyler Johnson scored the go-ahead goal in a 3-2 victory against the Boston Bruins in the round-robin Aug. 5, it was the eighth game-winner in the NHL postseason in his career, tied with Martin St. Louis for the most in Lightning history.

Blue Jackets: Columbus allowed 2.61 goals per game during the regular season, tied with the Arizona Coyotes for third in the NHL. Tampa Bay led the NHL with an average of 3.47 goals per game. The Lightning defeated the Blue Jackets 2-1 in overtime Feb. 10 in their only game during the regular season.

X-factors

Lightning: The swing between Hedman being in or out of the lineup is immense, and the impact of his absence would be compounded by the fact his regular defense partner, Jan Rutta, is unfit to play. A finalist for the Norris Trophy, which he won after being voted the best in the NHL in 2018, Hedman scored 55 points (11 goals, 44 assists) in 66 regular-season games, third at the position in the League behind John Carlson of the Washington Captials (75) and Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators (65).

Blue Jackets: Liam Foudy played two regular-season games for the Blue Jackets but earned coach John Tortorella's trust during training camp and played all five games against the Maple Leafs, scoring his first goal in the NHL in Game 5 and averaging 15:28 of ice time per game. The 20-year-old forward looked comfortable, and his speed, which could be an asset against the Lightning, was noticeable. Foudy scored 68 points (28 goals, 40 assists) in 45 games with London of the Ontario Hockey League this season.

They said it

"I think this team's been on a lot of runs here. A lot of faces in there know what it takes to get there. They've been stopped -- but me, hopefully my voice carries in the room and helps find an identity for our team. Playing the right way, playing hard, competing, keeping things simple and being mentally strong. Each game is going to be tough. You are not going to win a series in Game 1. It's how you respond." -- Lightning forward Pat Maroon, who was signed as a free agent after winning the Stanley Cup with the St. Louis Blues in 2019

"As you keep moving on, the hockey gets, it gets more into, I think, a grind. We're playing Tampa, a very good hockey club with a lot of weapons. We're going to have to get better in a lot of areas, not just defense. We have to make some more plays, we have to have our forecheck get better. As you move along here, teams are beginning to get knocked out, and you start playing these other teams, the games are going to get better, so we have to join in." -- Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella

Mike Rupp talks about Blue Jackets coach Tortorella

Will win if …

Lightning: They can harness the frustration of the 2019 series. They were disappointed and mad after the sweep, and it showed this season as they rounded into form and remade their team to be more comfortable in the defense-first, physically demanding style of playoff hockey. They need to make sure they're ready, that they've learned from their mistakes, and that they can finish in the postseason.

Blue Jackets: They maintain their strong defensive play and make it a low-scoring series. The Blue Jackets allowed eight goals in their four-game sweep of the Lightning last season and shut out the Maple Leafs in Games 1 and 5 of the Qualifiers.