Do you remember where you were on Aug. 11, 2020?
The Columbus Blue Jackets and Tampa Bay Lightning had wrapped up the fourth-longest game in NHL history. Brayden Point's game-winner at 10:27 of the fifth overtime gave the Lightning the 3-2 win and 1-0 series lead in Game One of the First Round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Here's how we got to this point.
As you'll recall, the world was navigating its way through the COVID pandemic. Following a lengthy hiatus to the 2019-20 season, the NHL resumed play on Aug. 1, 2020 inside a playoff "bubble" with games taking place at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto and Rogers Place in Edmonton and no fans in the stands.
Columbus eliminated the Toronto Maple Leafs on Aug. 9 behind a 3-0 win to conclude its best-of-five qualifying round. The Lightning received a bye as they awaited their eventual matchup with Columbus.
Per NHL.com, the game is the fourth-longest in NHL history, with an overtime length of 90:27, nearly eclipsing the Philadelphia Flyers' 2-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on May 4, 2000, which lasted five overtimes and consisted of 92:01 of overtime play.
Yeah, we're still not over the historical 5 OT madness from yesterday's game between the @TBLightning and @BlueJacketsNHL. #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/GPm55QfZCO
— NHL (@NHL) August 12, 2020
In the 3-2 loss to the Lightning, Columbus had a power-play goal by Pierre-Luc Dubois, which gave the Jackets a 1-0 lead at 2:39 of the first period. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored an even-strength goal at 19:12 of the second period to give the Jackets a 2-1 lead.
Joonas Korpisalo was the First Star of the Game, making an NHL record 85 saves.
The series came just one year after the Blue Jackets' historic four-game sweep of the league-leading Lightning in 2019.
