Oh my god it happened.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, who tied a record for most wins in the Cap era, not only lost in the first round of the playoffs but they got SWEPT in four straight games. They didn’t lose that many games in entire MONTHS during the year.

Give the Blue Jackets credit; they did a good job playing a tough game against Tampa. They were hot at the right time, while Tampa dealt with some injuries and poor performances they hadn’t faced all season. If you want an idea of how it happened, Alan at Raw Charge wrote this great piece ahead of game four.

Which means we’re going to have to deal with some truly terrible takes from the same truly terrible hockey “analysts” that, personally, I’m already sick and tired of. Fulemin coined the term “Takepocalypse” for the shit storm we’re about to get that tries to diagnose Tampa’s problems and why they lost. It’s a very appropriate term, even though if Tampa is smart (and I think they are) they will more or less stay the course. They will make some trades they need to make to clear the cap space to lock up their young stars. They won’t dismantle the core to try and get a new identity.

Don’t be Chicago Blackhawks and trade away Panarin, Hjalmarsson, etc after being swept by the Nashville Predators. Be Washington Capitals and just double down to try again next year, after getting beat by the Pittsburgh Penguins two years in a row.

Oh, hey, speaking of the Penguins! They also got swept in not-quite-as-shocking-but-still-shocking fashion by the New York Islanders. Unlike Tampa, it maybe shouldn’t have been so surprising. Pittsburgh didn’t exactly go into the playoffs hot. They struggled off and on all year. They didn’t have consistently good goaltending while they were going against one of the strongest goaltending teams in the league. They geared up for the playoffs by acquiring... Erik Gudbranson? Yeesh...

ONTO THE LINKS!

Despite Game 3 Win, the Leafs Third Line is a Problem | by Arvind

Marlies Recap: Eamon McAdam gets no help in regular season finale | by Hardev

Leafs forward Trevor Moore a reminder that the fourth line can be ‘where you win a series’ | by Sean Fitz-Gerald

Mike Babcock on the Jake Muzzin – Nikita Zaitsev pairing: “They are hard guys to play against” | by MLHS

Speaking of shocks! The Guelph Storm completed an improbable comeback in the CHL playoffs, coming back from a 3-0 series deficit, and down 3-1 in game 7, they won 6-3 and advanced to the OHL conference finals. Fedor Gordeev advances!

In other minor league news, the Newfoundland Growlers came back from 2-0 to win 3-2 in double overtime. They now have a 3-0 series lead.

NHL PLAYOFFS

HOLY FORKING SHIRTBALLS: JACKETS ADVANCE TO SECOND ROUND | Jackets Cannon

Blue Jackets top Lightning 7-3, sweep the Presidents’ Trophy winners | Raw Charge

Islanders 3, Penguins 1: Never in Doubt | Lighthouse Hockey

Game 4 Recap: New York sweeps Pittsburgh out of 2019 NHL Playoffs | Pensburgh

The Jets tied up their series by winning two games in St. Louis against the Blues after the Blues won the first two games in Winnipeg.

The Golden Knights scored 1 minute into the game and then Evander Kane did this.

The Golden Knights won the game 5-0.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

What is more shocking to you?

Columbus sweeping Tampa255
New York sweeping Pittsburgh9
Guelph reverse-sweeping London30
Toronto leading the series 2-124
From The Branches