Enough about the Rangers. Let’s talk about how Columbus-Tampa Bay would affect the Rangers if the Blue Jackets pull off what would become the most shocking first-round upset since 1981, when the 111-point Oilers were taken down by the 63-point Kings.
The Lightning became unhinged in Friday’s 5-1 rout by the Blue Jackets in which a shockingly selfish Nikita Kucherov played the part of Draymond Green of the 2016 Warriors, the ultimate of prematurely ordained greatest-of-all-time teams. Tampa Bay, down 2-0, outscored 8-1 over the last 72:04 and with the presumptive Hart Trophy winner serving his suspension in Sunday’s Game 3 in Columbus for his cowardly attack on Markus Nutivaara, is on the verge of ignominy.