'Now we can do something': Blue Jackets' playoff success an act worth the wait in Columbus

COLUMBUS — Matt Duchene didn't know how to act.  

The Blue Jackets center admitted that Monday as he recounted Saturday's game-winning goal in double overtime of Game 2 against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Duchene remembers the put-back shot whizzing into the net before he fell to his knees.  

"I think you see my reaction," Duchene said. "I just didn't know what to do. You lose all feeling in your body, and that's kind of what happened."

MORE: Blue Jackets' clampdown around Sergei Bobrovsky bad news for Bruins

That kind of thing keeps happening in Columbus. The Blue Jackets beat the Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena to take a 2-1 lead in their first second-round series in franchise history.  

This is the team that slipped into the NHL playoffs, swept top-seed Tampa Bay and now has the advantage on a veteran Boston team with a tight-defense, efficient power play and top-shelf goaltending from Sergei Bobrovsky.

It's OK if not everybody knows how to act, even if the responses are what you might expect. 

Central Ohio has its first confirmed case of Stanley Cup fever. A crowd of 19,337 — the second-largest in franchise history — screamed so loud Monday left wing Nick Foligno said he had trouble hearing through the first few shifts.

Foligno is one of those players who can appreciate what's transpiring here. He's in his seventh season with Columbus. He's been through losing seasons and still remembers the sting of first-round losses to Pittsburgh and Washington the last two years. This season has come with personal challenges off the ice with his family, but now he's watching a team come together at the right time — a tale told across the NHL playoffs this season. 

This might just be Columbus' turn.  

"I won't get caught in the storyline because I want us to just be us," Foligno said. "I want us to understand the opportunity we have here and not get caught up in what could be." 

We thought he would say that, but it's hard not to get caught up in what could be when you consider where Columbus has been in the past, how it got this far and where this could go if it continues playing like the best team left in the field.  

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Jeff Svoboda, staff writer for BlueJackets.com, watched the franchise build its fan base in increments despite a losing record in 10 of its first 11 seasons. Svoboda points to 15 sellouts this season, which would have seen unfathomable five years ago.  

"They've built it into a hockey town that even when they were struggling to make the playoffs, people would still come out to be there for this team," Svoboda told Sporting News. "I think now that they've got that fan base, the only thing they needed to make it explode was to win a playoff series." 

Explode. That finally happened with Tampa Bay, but to understand, know that Columbus had to wait much longer than most. Of the NHL franchises that were either expansion teams or relocated since 1992-93, the Blue Jackets had the longest wait for a first postseason series victory at 18 seasons. Atlanta did not win a series in 11 seasons before relocating to Winnipeg. 

Of those 15 franchises, 10 have made Stanley Cup Final appearances — the most recent, of course, coming with first-year franchise Vegas in 2017-18. Seriously, the Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup Final before the Blue Jackets won a playoff series. This has been a long time coming for Blue Jackets fans. 

New NHL franchise playoff berths by season

^Relocated from Minnesota 
*Relocated from Quebec
#Relocated from Hartford
^^Relocated from Winnipeg
**Relocated from Atlanta 

Columbus' turnaround started in earnest with coach John Tortorella, who led Tampa Bay to that Stanley Cup in 2003-04. Tortorella was hired after the Blue Jackets started 0-7 in 2015-16, and they've had a winning record in the regular season since. Now, the Blue Jackets are starting to feel that first rush of playoff success, and all that started when Columbus was trailing 3-0 to his former team in Game 1 of the first round.  

"I go back to that play we all talked about it," Tortorella said. "That save Bob makes to keep it 3-0 instead of four and then we score to make it 3-1. It gives the opportunity to come back in that game. That starts galvanizing you as far as believing."  

It did not look like that would possible early in the season.  

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The worst-kept secret in Columbus is that Bobrovsky and left wing Artemi Panarin will likely test free agency this summer, but Blue Jackets players took turns insisting that is not an issue in the present. Duchene arrived in a trade with Ottawa on Feb. 22, and he re-tells the story about looking at the names on the board when he arrived.  

"Wow, what a team," Duchene said to himself. "There are no holes." 

The Blue Jackets won seven of their last eight games, and that was good enough to clinch a playoff berth on the last weekend of the regular season. They were not supposed to be here, but that series against Tampa Bay turned into an improbable sweep. Columbus outscored Tampa Bay, 19-8. 

"I know other guys in this locker room have had really frustrating careers playoff-wise where they couldn't get past the first round or couldn't get in or whatever," Duchene said. "I know for sure that first-round victory was huge for us, and it was like, 'Now we can do something.'" 

Game 3 against Boston was the latest example of the carry-over effect. Bobrovsky made 36 saves Tuesday, including one phenomenal effort on his back. The Blue Jackets out-hit the Bruins without making the big mistake. Now, Columbus has a chance to take a 3-1 lead in the series Thursday.  

Those disappointing playoff losses to Pittsburgh and Washington the last two seasons helped, and it does not hurt that the division rival Penguins and Capitals were eliminated in the first round. There is a sense of opportunity the Blue Jackets are taking advantage of.  

"Guys are making plays that maybe it's not uncharacteristic, but they know the importance of it this time a year," Foligno said. "That just gets everybody fired up. You are seeing that after goals, after wins. Guys are just pumped for each other. When you have that it's a dangerous thing to have." 

Questions still linger about the future, but nobody seems to care right now.  

"I couldn't give a hell about what's going to go on in the summer right now," Duchene said. "I know that other guys are feeling the same way, and if they aren't feeling the same way they are playing like they don't care. They are playing like this is the be all, end all and it is. You only get so many chances in this league." 

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Svoboda hesitates to make the comparison, but he believes this Columbus team is similar to the 2014 Ohio State national championship football team, which overcame injuries to quarterbacks Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett and the death of walk-on Kosta Karageorge during the regular season. The Buckeyes ended the season with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones leading a national championship run through Wisconsin, Oregon and Alabama.  

Svoboda points to the free-agency talk, Foligno's family and the Duchene trade as flash-points for this year. Now that the team won a series, the home-ice advantage is growing. 

"Once they won the two games in Tampa that kind of gave them a reason to believe, but there's that sense of having been around this team for 20 years and just the fact they never won a playoff series there were people were worried. 'Is the dream over? Are we going to wake up at some point?'" Svoboda said. "At the same time, as you've been given a reason to believe and you're seeing it explode." 

Explode. Svoboda uses that word again, and that is fitting considering every Columbus home game opens with a deafening cannon fire, one that got somewhat muffled by fans screaming "C-B-J! C-B-J!" after a full-go laser light show before Game 3. The explosion Tuesday came when Boone Jenner scored the first goal at 18:37 in the first period.  

There is a swag about this team, too.   

Center Brandon Dubinsky, who promised it would be a "hell of a lot louder in Columbus," wore a Milwaukee Bucks hat to his press conference Monday. He insisted it was because he has family in Milwaukee, but it’s also a subtle jab at Boston knowing the Bucks and Celtics are in the NBA playoffs. Dubinsky can play the role of heel for a fan-base that spent the third period belting out the signature Ric Flair "Woo!"  

The confidence comes with winning. 

"These fans have been so good to us over the years, they've cheered on us through some our failures," Dubinsky said. "Now that we're giving them a little bit of success — obviously we have a long, long way to go so I don't want to get ahead of myself — but it's going to be exciting for them."  

That’s the challenge for Tortorella. With each victory, the Blue Jackets will attract more attention, but he is coaching with the same day-by-day approach that worked in Tampa Bay. 

"We have to make sure we keep our wits about ourselves, but I'm happy that people are able to experience some things in this building," Tortorella said. "We win a game tonight. Go out there and party, but we go back to work and get ready for the next game." 

That worked out in Game 3. Duchene struck again in the second period with just seven seconds left on a power play for a 2-0 lead. Duchene turned toward the glass and pounded on it. This time he stayed on his feet.  

Duchene knew how to act this time, much like the rest of the Blue Jackets. 

This isn’t a team acting like it’s in the second round of the playoffs for the first time.  

They're acting like they've been there before. 

"You get more comfortable as you go along and obviously when that puck goes in the back of the net you feel great," Duchene said. "You want to keep that good feeling going as long as you can."