After one of the best regular season finishes ever, the Tampa Bay Lightning have stunned the hockey world with a quick exit out of the playoffs, by way of a sweep at the hands of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Believe it or not, they’re actually the first President’s Trophy winner to be swept out of the first round.
With the season they had, the Lightning were certainly hoping for a better outcome than this in the playoffs. The offseason will be a long one for these guys, that’s for sure.
in a bit of an unusual move, but perhaps one befitting the mood right now, the Lightning even offered a statement to fans in the aftermath of their Game 4 loss that sealed the deal.
You don’t often see teams issue emotional statements — or at least, not this emotional — after losing in the playoffs, but the circumstances surrounding this Lightning exit really does feel that deflating after the regular season they had.
We’ll have until the offseason to see what’s next for this team.
