This is an 8* on TAMPA BAY

We’ve taken Tampa Bay in each of the last two games and they’ve delivered. Now they have a shot to eliminate Columbus for good and finally erase the painful memory of what happened in the first round of last year’s playoffs. That history-making sweep is the furthest thing from the Blue Jackets’ minds right now as they are just thinking one win at a time. Problem is, they are gassed. This was discussed in our Game 4 analysis. To rehash, Columbus had to play a tough five-game series against Toronto in the qualification round and a 5OT loss in Game 1 of this series was exactly what they DIDN’T need. Now had the Lightning lost that game, this would be a much different series. Columbus did outshoot Tampa Bay for the first time in the series in Game 4 (29-22) but were pretty much doomed once they fell into a two-goal hole. The Blue Jackets have been outshot in all but three games in the bubble and you have to think Tampa feels pretty good about itself being that they’re 5-2 and have yet to score more than three goals in any game here in Toronto. Of course, neither has Columbus. The problem for the Blue Jackets is that the Lightning are 47-9 their L56 after scoring two goals or less the last game. Play on TAMPA BAY

AAA