I'm talking big picture and small picture here. What are they lacking that team's like PIT, CHI, WASH, and LAK had when they were successful in the playoffs? Do they need more physicality? More offensive production from the entire lineup? Are they weak defensively? Assuming they lose this series to CBJ, there's gonna be a lot of questions about the future in Tampa. Why are they so good in the regular season but can't step up in the playoffs?

They haven't lost the series yet. I mean, i'd say at this point it's very unlikely that they beat Columbus. Only 4 teams in NHL history have come back to win a series after trailing 3-0 in the series. However, the Lightning are definitely capable of winning 4 games in a row. I don't know how many times they did that in the regular season, but it was a lot. I'm not saying I think Tampa Bay is going to win the series. I think that's very unlikely. I'm just saying it's not over yet, especially with a team like the Lightning. I think so far it hasn't just been the Lightning not playing well enough. The Blue Jackets have been good with what I've seen from watching and what I've heard/read. I haven't watched much of that series, though, so I'm not too sure. (I've watched a bit, but not enough to have a great idea of how each team has been playing.) I'm just guessing and going by what I have seen of the series and what others are saying. I'm surprised to see Tampa Bay down 3-0. I picked them to beat Columbus in a sweep. But it's the playoffs, and there are always surprises. This is the biggest surprise so far. But another thing is all the pressure that's been on the Lightning. Tons of pressure on them to win this series and that was what I thought was one of the main things that could stop them. I still thought they'd get past Columbus. Like I said, I picked Tampa Bay to sweep this series. It's probably a mix of things that have put Columbus up 3-0 in this series. Don't forget Kucherov and Hedman were out tonight for Tampa Bay.

Great teams embrace pressure and thrive on it. Tampa is folding under the pressure as Point, Stamkos, Kucherov, and Hedman have combined for exactly zero points in 3 games (2 games for Kucherov and Hedman). I realize the series isn't over yet, but they've been absolutely dominated over the last 8 periods. CBJ has outscored Tampa 12-2 since the first period of game #1. This season was their best shot so far and things are gonna get complicated with the cap.

Honestly, I think they played so well during the season that they don't really know how to recover when they get knocked down this much.

I'm saying maybe the Lightning aren't as good as we think. Great regular season team? Yes. Great playoff team? Maybe not as great a playoff team as people thought they were going to be. Teams like Pittsburgh and Washington have been able to do that, but the Lightning haven't yet. I really don't know what to expect in game 4. I think Columbus is going to win the series, but I can't decide what I think will happen in game 4. Part of me is telling me Tampa Bay is going to win game 4 because it just seems like they're too good to get swept by Columbus in the 1st round, but part of me is saying that Columbus will sweep the series because they keep winning games when it seems like Tampa Bay should win. Not that Tampa Bay was better in those games, but i'm saying going into the games it seemed like Tampa Bay had to win. It didn't seem right for Columbus to win game 3, and while I knew it could happen, and there was a pretty decent chance of that happening, I thought Tampa Bay was going to win that game. Also, the same thing happened with game 2. Game 1 not so much because whichever team won it would only be 1-0. But going into game 2 it seemed like Tampa Bay was the more likely team to win that game because how could a team that good go down 2-0? They haven't been as good as we thought they'd be. So, I have no prediction for game 4. That would be too hard to pick. We'll just see what ends up happening.

Cooper said himself in one of his post-game pressers that this team hadn't faced hardly any adversity during the season. They were used to steamrolling teams and not losing multiple games in a row. They lost back to back games only twice, and one of those both were non-regulation. I don't want to say they never played hard during the season, because I know that's just not true, but they have likely never had to have all 20 guys give 110% for 60 minutes a game, simply because their talent level is so high.

And I'm sure a lot of teams they played in the regular season just sort of let up after going down by multiple goals, simply because it was just one game out of 82, and it was Tampa, who could come back against Tampa right? Well now Columbus knows that there's a clock ticking during the playoffs and you can't just coast during any game. I'm sure a lot of guys in that locker room know there's a clock ticking on Panarin, Bobrovsky, Duchene, and Dzingel, and they know this will likely be their best shot at the Cup for a while. They know their GM went all in during the TDL, and they don't want it to have been all for naught.

Yes and no. Tampa is trying to play a more physical game in the playoffs, but they don't have the players for it. Since that's the case, they should stick to the speed/skill gameplan that carried them all season.

They were focused more on hitting and playing physical than playing their style of speed and skill first two games. Third game was better, but it's hard when players like Kuch and Heddy are out. Also no Stralman whole series...

CBJ's forecheck, great defensive structure and neutral zone coverage is killing us. Seems like we have no answer for that. Torts did a great job preparing his team for the postseason...

I think you nailed it! Tampa hasn't been able to enter the zone w/ speed. Too much chip n' chase for a high skill team. They need to break through CBJ's neutral zone coverage to be successful. They'll never beat CBJ playing heavy. Speed and skill is their identity! They've definitely lacked identity over the first 3 games.

I really think TBL's D's have been shut down on zone entries. Part of this can def. be attributed to Hedman's nagging injuries and the rest is due to CBJ's effective trap. Also Tampa's lack of skill depth on the backend has really been a problem. Notice how much more effective Seth Jones and Zack Werenski have been at carrying the puck in over the blue line. Doing so def. makes like a lot easier in setting up offensively. They've exposed TBL's one true flaw: Defensive depth/puck moving D's.

I remember how dominant WASH was in the first 2 games last season only to see TBL roar back and win 3 straight. So it's def. NOT over yet. Personally, I see Tampa getting steamrolled again in game 4, but that's just me. I wouldn't be shocked to see Cooper adjust and extend the series back to Tampa. This could just be a terrible matchup for TBL. Torts has been able to exploit all of TBL's weaknesses so far. I'll also say that it's probably more likely that TBL mounts a comeback than PIT against the Islanders.