COLUMBUS Matt Duchene didn't know how to act.

The Blue Jackets centeradmitted that Monday as he recounted Saturday's indouble overtime of Game 2 against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Ducheneremembers the put-back shot whizzing intothe net before he fellto 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."

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Thatkind of thing keeps happening in Columbus. The Blue Jackets beat the Bruins 2-1 on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena in their first second-round series in Jaleel Scott Jersey 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 Mondayleft 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 andstill remembers the sting of first-round lo ses to Pittsburgh and Washington the last two years. This season , but now he's watching a team come together at the right time a tale told acro s 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, Kenneth Dixon Jersey " 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 farand 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 ahockey town that even when they were Trace McSorley Jersey 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 franchiseVegas in 2017-18.Seriously, the Golden Knights made the Stanley Cup Final before the Blue Jackets won a playoffseries. This has been a long time coming for Blue Jacketsfans.

New NHL franchise playoff berths by seasonFranchiseFirst app.First series winFirst Final app.First Cup winSan Jose (1991-92)3324-Tampa Bay (1992-93)4111212Ottawa (1992-93)5614-Anaheim (1993-94)441013Florida (1993-94)333-Dallas (1993-94)^1166Colorado (1995-96)*1111Carolina Ronnie Stanley Jersey (1997-98)#2558Arizona (1996-97)^^116--Nashville (1998-99)61218-Atlanta (1999-00)7---Columbus (2000-01)818--Minnesota (2000-01)33--Winnipeg (2011-12)**47--Las Vegas (2017-18)111-

^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 succe s, 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 aboutit,"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 po sible early in the season.

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The worst-kept secret in Columbus is that Bobrovsky and left wingArtemiPanarin , but Blue Jackets players took turnsinsisting that is not an i sue 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 Tyus Bowser Jersey 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. , 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 lo ses 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 Matt Judon Jersey 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 ahellabout what's going to go on in the summer right now,"Duchene said."I know that other guys are fe