<
        >

          Sports world reacts to Tampa Bay Lightning-Columbus Blue Jackets five-overtime thriller

          • ESPN.com
          Aug 11, 2020, 09:59 PM ET

          The first game of the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs began at 3 p.m. ET on Tuesday, between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Columbus Blue Jackets. It didn't end until the fifth overtime, which was 6 hours, 13 minutes later in real time.

          Along the way, playoff records for saves (85, Joonas Korpisalo) and ice time (65:06, Seth Jones) were set. Tampa Bay's Brayden Point ended it, and then looked as if he were about to pass out from exhaustion in the postgame interview.

          And oh yeah, there were some excellent takes on social media throughout the proceedings.

          Here are the best reactions to the epic clash:

          First came a series of jokes about how long the game was lasting:

          Then the video board operator got in on the fun at the rink in Toronto:

          The Boston Bruins and Carolina Hurricanes were supposed to be starting the first game of their series at 8 p.m., but there was a slight problem:

          So then, this happened:

          Age jokes were made:

          Even opposing players had to give it up for the effort being put forth by the Lightning and Blue Jackets:

          The Calgary Flames and Dallas Stars started a game at 5:30 p.m. ET -- 2½ hours after this one. The Flames won 3-2, and the postgame show was wrapped up before the Lightning and Blue Jackets game reached a final:

          But, all good things must eventually come to an end, and so it was with this game, as Point found the net at 10:27 of overtime No. 5: