In near-unfathomable fashion, the Tampa Bay Lightning were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs on Tuesday night — swept in the first round by the last team in the Eastern Conference field, the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Tuesday's 7-3 loss in Columbus was the final blow for a Tampa Bay team that won an NHL record-tying 62 games in the regular season and led the league in several categories, including goals (319) and penalty-kill percentage (85%).

The Lightning's loss will likely go down as one of the worst playoff flops in NHL history, but how does it compare to others in sports? Here's a look at eight more shocking playoff flops over the past 30 years.

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1990-91 Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks won their first Presidents' Trophy in 1991 and had four Hall of Famers on their roster, including starting goalie Ed Belfour and his backup, Dominik Hasek. But they were bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota North Stars — who, incredibly, qualified for the postseason despite posting a sub-.500 record in the regular season. Chicago lost the series in six games, including a shocking 6-0 loss in Game 5.

1993-94 Seattle SuperSonics

Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton led Seattle to one of its best regular seasons ever in 1993-94. The SuperSonics finished 63-19, then went up 2-0 on the eighth-seeded Denver Nuggets in their best-of-five playoff series, winning the first two games by an average of 17 points. But then it all came crashing down. Seattle proceeded to lose the next three games, and the series, and their terrific season ended with a thud.

2002 New York Yankees (and Oakland Athletics)

It was a rough year for the favorites in the American League Division Series. The Yankees and Athletics had each won 103 games, and New York was in the midst of a historic stretch, having won World Series titles in four of the previous six seasons. But somehow, neither team made it past the first round. The Yankees lost in four games to the then-Anaheim Angels, while Oakland shockingly lost in five to the Minnesota Twins.

2005 Indianapolis Colts

This was supposed to be Indy's year. With Peyton Manning in his prime, the Colts went 14-2, winning an NFL record 12 games in which they never trailed, and then watched their rivals, the New England Patriots, bow out of the playoffs in the divisional round. All they had to do was beat the sixth-seeded Pittsburgh Steelers in their own divisional matchup. Instead, the Steelers jumped out to a 14-0 lead, won 21-18 and went on to win the Super Bowl.

2006-07 Dallas Mavericks

After reaching the NBA Finals in their previous season, the Mavericks went 67-15 to clinch the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Unfortunately for them, that led to a matchup with the "We Believe" iteration of the Golden State Warriors, who had a 42-40 record, in the first round — and a dumbfounding exit after losing in six games.

2009-10 Washington Capitals

The Capitals have a sizable history of playoff heartbreak, but this might have been the worst of the bunch. The winners of the Presidents' Trophy and No. 1 seeds in the Eastern Conference, they drew a first-round matchup against the Montreal Canadiens and promptly went up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series before letting it slip away. A pair of one-goal losses in Games 5 and 7 made this flop particularly painful for Washington fans.

2011 Green Bay Packers

Seven teams in NFL history have gone 15-1 or better. The 2011 Packers are the only team that failed to win a playoff game. After cruising through the regular season, including a 13-game win streak to start the year, Green Bay suffered a 37-20 loss to the New York Giants at Lambeau Field to end its season — and its bid to repeat as Super Bowl champs.

2017-18 Virginia Cavaliers

This is the most recent postseason flop, and also arguably the most shocking. Virginia wasn't just a No. 1 seed in the 2018 NCAA tournament; It was the top overall seed. And the Cavaliers didn't just lose to 16th-seeded UMBC, becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the history of the event; they got blown out, 74-54. That loss, however, helped set the stage for this year's comeback, as the Cavaliers returned to the tournament as a No. 1 seed and this time went on to win the national championship.

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.