Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate adds to Lightning organization’s upset misery

NHL-Blue-Jackets-Atkinson-skates-against-Lightning

Columbus Blue Jackets' Cam Atkinson, left, controls the puck against the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Jay LaPrete/AP)

The Tampa Bay Lightning may already be eliminated from the NHL playoffs, but that hasn’t stopped the Columbus Blue Jackets from continuing to dish out upsets against the organization.

The Cleveland Monsters (Columbus’ AHL affiliate) defeated the Syracuse Crunch (the Lightning’s AHL club) in the first game of a best-of-five series in the Calder Cup playoffs, helping the Blue Jackets organization begin its quest for yet another upset against a team associated with Tampa Bay.

The first notable upset between the two organizations was of historic proportions, with the 62-win Lightning becoming the first No. 1 seed to be swept out of the first round following their epic collapse against the Blue Jackets.

The Monsters’ upset of the Crunch isn’t quite on the same scale, of course, given the league in which the teams play in and the clubs’ point differential from one another in the regular season standings — the Monsters finished fourth in the North Division with 84 points, 18 behind the division-leading Crunch who had 102 — but nevertheless it’s an intriguing, somewhat comedic hockey story worth keeping an eye on.

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