COLUMBUS, Ohio _ The Lightning finished the season with one more piece of history. Tampa Bay didn't want this one, but the epic collapse will define its year.
Forget 62. The number that will live on with this season is four.
With a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jackets in Game 4 Tuesday, the Lightning became the first Presidents' Trophy winner to be swept in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Remember when the Lightning seemed unbeatable? Tampa Bay was the nearly undisputed Cup favorite a week ago. Now, it's all over.
There's no trophy, just empty hands, disappointment and embarrassment as the Lightning return to Tampa, their season over.
All of those regular-season records mean nothing.
The 128 team points, Nikita Kucherov's 128 individual points, the 319 goals, three 40-goal scorers, the team-record 10-game win streak, it all adds up to zero without the Stanley Cup.
Tampa Bay finally remembered itself late in the second period and made a push. But it was too late going up against a now red-hot Columbus team and its dazzling goalie, Sergei Bobrovsky. The Blue Jackets fed off the electric crowd and responded immediately when the Lightning tried to climb back.
The bad penalties and struggling penalty kill that plagued the Lightning all season sunk them on Tuesday. The game-winner came on the man-advantage of a delayed penalty, a trip by Mathieu Joseph just after the Lightning tied the game up.
For five minutes, hope had flashed. Tampa Bay looked like the team everyone loved all year. Maybe it could pull this off.
But, no. The Lightning played a good third period but not enough to overcome nine periods of sloppy hockey.
It's in the conversation for biggest collapse in sports history. One of the two winningest teams in NHL history couldn't win a single game in the playoffs.
No one in Tampa Bay will ever want to hear the number 62 again.
