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Florida Panthers get swept in the second round by the Tampa Bay Lightning

By Chris Cerullo

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May 24, 2022 2:59 am

The #TimeToHunt has come and gone as the Florida Panthers have been swept in four games by the Tampa Bay Lightning in round two of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. After taking out the Capitals in six games in the first round, the Cats will depart the postseason without a win against their in-state rival.

With a 2-0 shutout on home ice, the Lightning sealed the deal on Monday night. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 49 stops in the clincher.

Here’s a straight-up list of just some of the insanity the Lightning have accomplished by moving on. Credit to the hockey subreddit for coming up with most of these:

  • Made the Eastern Conference Final in six out of the last eight seasons. Their eighth time overall since joining the league for the 1992-93 season which is tied with Detroit for the most in that timespan.
  • The first team to win ten consecutive playoff rounds since the New York Islanders of 1982.
  • In their past seven series-clinching games, Andrei Vasilevskiy has allowed one goal total. He saved 10.06 goals above expected through all four games against the Panthers.
  • Vasilevskiy’s 49 saves are the second-most in NHL history in a series-clinching game. He is also now the all-time leader in playoff series-clinching shutouts.
  • Head coach Jon Cooper’s first-ever playoff sweep comes against a Presidents’ trophy-winning team.

In comparison, here’s another list of some of what Florida “accomplished” by getting eliminated. Credit again to the hockey subreddit for a lot of these:

  • They finished the playoffs 1-for-31 (3.2-percent) on their power play. That is the worst power-play percentage of any team to play more than seven playoff games.
  • For the 4th consecutive season, the Presidents’ Trophy winner has lost four straight games in the playoffs.
  • They saved their first shutout loss of the season for an elimination game.
  • The Presidents’ Trophy Winner has now been eliminated in the second round for the seventh time in the last nine seasons. The Caps contributed to this a couple of times.
  • The Panthers have not won a playoff game past the first round since 1996.

Sometimes you just run into a dynasty that has the best coach, goaltender, defense, and forwards since like the year 2000. Not much you can do about that…well…unless you’re the Washington Capitals in the year 2018.

Screenshot via TNT

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