from John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times,

We spent the winter counting. Goals, victories, records. As quickly as we could add them up, the Lightning would provide even more on the next night. And the night after that.

Even if you weren’t a hockey fan, you came to understand this season would be about more than just a collection of numbers. This was a generational team on an implausible journey. With every victory, it seemed the Lightning was inviting more believers along for the ride.

And now that belief is shaken. Justifiably so.

The Lightning has not just lost the first two games of the playoffs against the Columbus Blue Jackets, it has seemingly lost much of the hope that it spent months cultivating.

That’s because there was no fluke involved in either loss. The Lightning dropped Game 1 because it could not hold a lead, and it dropped Game 2 because it was outplayed most of the night.

continued