The Blue Jackets looked to have all the makings of a Cinderella. A team of expiring contracts that barely made the playoffs after the penultimate game of the season, Columbus promptly swept the Lightning and went up 2-1 on the Bruins. However, three straight losses later have the Bruins advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals and the Blue Jackets going home.
For fans, there is a bright side. It's the first time the franchise has ever won a playoff series. They lost in the first round the past two seasons. But Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella -- who guaranteed a Game 6 win -- didn't want to hear that.
When he was asked if there was a sense of accomplishment, he immediately replied: "Don't even go there," via TSN. "Don't even go there with me, I'm not gonna listen to that s--- about that accomplishment."
As Tortorella got up to leave, the question was finished and he was asked if it felt as "empty" as last year's first round exit, to which the coach replied that he didn't remember what last year felt like.
The Blue Jackets are in the unenviable situation of having their entire team be a question mark after a playoff run. They were buyers at the deadline in hopes of making a deep run, and although they got past the Lightning a second-round exit wasn't what they had in mind. Perhaps Tortorella is already thinking about what will happen with Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky and trade deadline acquisitions Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.
There is a sense of accomplishment with this Blue Jackets squad from the outside looking in, but there are a lot of question marks too. Although they were one of the postseason's most surprising teams, Columbus now has a lot of work to do to return to that form.
