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Stanley Cup Playoffs: 5 best Presidents’ Trophy winners that didn’t win the Stanley Cup

By Alex Hoegler

COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning keeps loose during a stoppage in play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - APRIL 16: Andrei Vasilevskiy #88 of the Tampa Bay Lightning keeps loose during a stoppage in play in Game Four of the Eastern Conference First Round during the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Tampa Bay Lightning on April 16, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images
Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images /

2. 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning

Fresh in the minds of every hockey fan, the 2018-19 Tampa Bay Lightning endured perhaps the most unbelievable and inexcusable playoff defeat in NHL history.

These were not your average Presidents’ Trophy winners. In an era that’s built around parity, teams aren’t supposed to win 62 games these days. They’re not supposed to register 128 points. Not in an era with the salary cap. No way.

Well, the Lightning matched the 1995-96 Detroit Red Wings for most wins in a single season. Nikita Kucherov ran away with the scoring title after registering 128 points. The Lightning led the NHL with 325 goals.

Steven Stamkos (45 goals, 98 points) and Brayden Point (41 goals, 92 points), took their games to a whole new level. In all, seven Tampa players scored at least 18 goals, and 11 players reached double-digits.

Not only that, but the Lightning were the NHL’s fifth-stingiest team, allowing just 222 goals in the regular season. And oh, the Lightning had the NHL’s best power play (28.2 percent) and penalty killing (85 percent) units.

So what went wrong for the Lightning against the Columbus Blue Jackets — a team that barely qualified for the postseason — in the opening round? Let’s just say practically everything. Kucherov was suspended for Game 3 after a dirty hit on Markus Nutivaara. Reigning Norris Trophy winner Victor Hedman missed the final two games due to injury.

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21-year-old blueliner Erik Cernak led Tampa with three points in the series. Stamkos, Kucherov and Point combined for just five points in the four-game sweep. Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat registered one point apiece.

And finally, star goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy simply didn’t show up when his team needed it most. He had a woeful .856 save percentage and 3.82 goals against average. The Blue Jackets simply made his life miserable in the whole series.

The Lightning were expected to at least reach the Stanley Cup Final. Nothing less. That’s how it is when you win 62 games in the 21st century. But somehow, and someway, they went incognito once the playoffs began. The fact they didn’t even win one game just makes this heartbreaking defeat more embarrassing.

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