This week at Union and Blue, we're taking a look back at the missed opportunities and chances for a franchise that has seen more than its fair share over its first twenty-five seasons of existence. I specifically want to look at what is, sadly, the most successful season in the history of the Columbus Blue Jackets: the 2018-19 season of "The Sweep" over the Tampa Bay Lightning and subsequent bowing out in the second round to the Boston Bruins.
First, suffice to say, the Jackets didn't really have a chance at winning the series once the Bergeron - Marchand - Pastranak line woke up in Game 4. Tukka Rask being a human brick wall for that series (he finished with a .948 Save % in six games) didn't help much either. Boston went on to score ten goals in three games, and ended up taking the series in six, with Rask putting up a shutout in Game 6.
That Columbus team thrived on creating many, many opportunistic chances off the rush by exploiting their physical style to cause chaos and create takeaway opportunities. Bruce Cassidy's team, once they woke up, perfectly defended against that scheme and justly ran away with the series thereafter.
In this scenario though, let's go to an alternate universe. Let's say that the Panarin line continues to bully the top line for Boston, Sergei Bobrovsky remains as good as he had been against Tampa (he was still stellar), and the Jackets find a way to score the equalizer in Game 5 and take a close Game 7 in Boston.
Everything remaining the same, the Jackets would've gone up against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Finals, a team that the Bruins, and I think the Jackets, would've matched up exceptionally well with.
The top four on defense for Carolina at that time was Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce, Dougie Hamilton and Justin Faulk. A cadre of mobile, but not heavy or particularly punishing, defenders. John Tortorella's heavy forechecking 1-2-2 style driven by Duchene, Jenner, Anderson (not hurt by Charlie McAvoy in this make-believe scenario) and Foligno would have wreaked havoc on the Canes.
Boston took the Canes to the woodshed in real life, whipping them in four straight to make the Finals. I wouldn't be surprised if Columbus would have done the same to Carolina and have made the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in Franchise history.
In the same way the Bruins were able to counter the Blue Jackets' heavy forechecking and takeaway-driven style, the Blues would've been able to do the same thing.
Colton Parayko, Alex Pietrangelo, Ryan O'Reilly, Brayden Schenn, and others would've been a tried and true matchup for the Blue Jackets' skaters, and with Jordan Binnington playing the superb hockey that he was at that point in the playoffs, I think it's a coin flip at best on who would've come out on top in that series, much in the same way it was in real life for the Bruins.
The Jackets would've needed even better play from Bobrovsky, and David Savard especially to play the series possessed by the spirit of Nicklas Lidstrom to have a realistic shot at coming away with the title.
Regardless, coming back down to Earth, the Jackets lost in the second round, and never came particularly close to sniffing the finals. Seven years later, that remains the same to this point.
Oh, what might've been...
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