Latest / Backchecking the Bolts / Jackie Spiegel on Philadelphia Flyers Resurgence + 2026 NHL Playoff 1st Round Predictions

Transcript

Jackie Spiegel on Philadelphia Flyers Resurgence + 2026 NHL Playoff 1st Round Predictions · Backchecking the Bolts

• Jason Linkes: Coming up next on Back Checking the Bolts, what goaltender in the East do you think could steal a series? Well, I might be a little biased here because I've watched his entire season and I was one of the few people who was actually like, this is a great pickup by the Flyers in the off season. But I do think Dan Valdar is someone who could potentially do that. Welcome to Back Checking the Bolts. Back Checking the Bolts is your cup of coffee to get you the latest on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Join host Jason Linkus and the managing editor of Raw Charge, Justin Godfrey. as they break down the lightning's most recent games and go beyond the highlights, telling you what the box scores didn't. It's time to drop the puck. Hi everybody. Welcome to back checking the bolts. I'm your host, Jason, like I says always, I am joined by the managing editor of raw charge. He is Justin Godfrey. You can read him each and every day at www.rawcharge.com. Today's a great episode. First of all, we're going to recap the lightning. Let's just say wasn't a, the most meaningful game against the New York Rangers. No one really had anything to play for. We're going to recap that one. We also have Jackie Spiegel. She's writer for the Philadelphia Flyers. She works for the Philadelphia Inquirer. You can read her at theinquirer.com. She's going to break down the Philadelphia Flyers resurgence into the playoffs and also take a look at some of the playoff series. And we're going to end this episode with Justin and I. We're going to give you our playoff picks. All that and more is coming up next. So Justin, I'm going to bring you in. Let's talk about that 4-2 loss to the Rangers. Is there any way to sugar coat this and just say it was just a meaningless game? know, we did go out of our way in the recap to not call it meaningless and to point out the fact that, you know, for a lot of players there, there was a little bit of meaning in that game. Corey Perry scored, he has nice little backhand spinorama kind of goal. We don't know what Corey Perry is going to do. That could be his last regular season goal in the NHL. So there's a little meaning there. Brandon Haverson got the start against the team that drafted him. The Rangers drafted him way back when. Um, so, you know, for individual players, yes, there was some meaning. Did it have any importance whatsoever for either team in regards to their standings? Probably not. Um, oddly enough, you know, the Rangers probably could have benefited from a loss as opposed to, to winning the game, just as they, as they kind of, you know, work their way into their, their draft lottery odds. But it's a game that had to be played. You have to play all 82. The Lightning weren't super focused on winning the game. I don't think, uh, they just want to get through it unscathed. Didn't want any more injuries. to upset their playoff roster. So they got through it. They lost. You know, I think a lot of people had fun. You know, it was fan appreciation. So I think that's all we really need to say about that game. You know, good job. You know, and another thing, actually, one more point, you know, I wanted to talk about the return of Max Crozier. So, OK, two more points then, because I think another thing you got out of his Oliver Bjorkstrang scored in the game. It's been a tough season for the guy. He ends, you know, if he hadn't scored, I think it would have been 19 games without a goal or something for him. Now he gets to go into the playoffs with a one game goal scoring streak. So you never know when these little things help, uh, for a player. So for him to get a goal, I do think there's a little bit of importance to that. And then you mentioned the return of Max Crozier. So the lightning get another younger defenseman back. Uh, he's Santini played in the game, but I think he was also put on waivers, uh, for the purpose of reassigning him to Syracuse where he is the captain. So it'll probably help them out for their playoff run. You get Crozier back helps with that defensive depth where, you know, there's still some question marks. So. Yeah. He played, think about 16 minutes or so, nothing too strenuous. So having him back on that right side is going to be a nice help for the Lightning. He did start the season on the roster. He was their opening night starter on the right side. So you get him back after 20 some games of missing action and, um, could only be good, things for the Lightning defense. because he's been out so long, I know it's good to get a game underneath his belt. Do you think he goes right into the top six pairings come playoff time? I don't think so. you know, as long as everybody's healthy, I think you're going to see the, the radish Moser pairing as your top pairing. You're gonna have McDonough's, Chernak is your second pairing. And I think they're going to keep that, that's too. Lillberg, um, third, uh, third pairing combination together. Again, a lot of this, you know, the Victor Hedman status is a big thing. If he's going to play or not, uh, which we don't have any information on. Nobody does. think, uh, Victor Hedman, it's still the only person who knows if he's going to play. Um. But you still have Crozier now as a depth option. If Cooper wants to go 11-7 and what he likes to do on the road in the playoffs, you know, you have a little bit stronger, stronger depth there. other thing is when it comes playoff time, if you are going to make a long run in the playoffs, you're going to need seven, eight, nine defensemen. It's important to get him back. It's important to get, to get a game under his belt. Final question, Justin. Halverson got to start net. Is Johansson going to be the backup going into the playoffs? looks like it. ⁓ how are some wheels reassigned to Syracuse on Thursday? All intents and purposes. It looks like Johansson is good to go. mean, honestly, if either one of them is getting playing time in the playoffs, might as well make plans for playing golf. Cause the lighting aren't winning. ⁓ if that's Leskis dot in that, I think, I think we all know that. So. I don't think it really matters who the Lightning backup is. I think you or I could be their backup and it wouldn't change the outlook of the tournament. 50 years old, I've bad back and bad knees. throw me in there. Exactly. Exactly. You're good to go, man. Just stop five shots. You're good to go. So just get in the way. So coming up, we are going to join our interview with Jackie Spiegel. Jackie is the beat writer. She works in the Philadelphia Inquirer. She covers the Philadelphia Flyers. She's gonna talk about the Flyers resurgence here in March. The Flyers have been on fire. They were nine points out of a playoff spot in early March and they're now gonna be facing the Pittsburgh Penguins as the three seed coming out of the Metropolitan Division. Here's that interview with Jackie right now. We are excited to bring in our special guest. an old friend of mine. She is Jackie Spiegel from the Philadelphia Inquirer. She is the beat writer for the Flyers. She's also a four time Emmy award winner. Jackie, thanks for joining us today. Great to see you again. Great to see you too. Thanks for having me on. Yeah. We won't talk about how many years it's been since we worked together. It's been decades. Redacted him out. Redacted him out. Jackie the Flyers who you cover has have been a great story over the past month They've caught fire on march. I think it was march 10th. They were nine points out of a playoff spot They vaulted all the way to third in the metropolitan division. Were you expecting this? ⁓ know, it's funny I actually had a conversation with strong couture like right before the season restarted in late february and You know, I I even said to him, you know, like hey the st louis blue blues were in last place, you know, the year they won the cup on January 1st. I mean, anything's possible. And he was like, yeah, we just got to get on a run. Like that's, that's what has to happen. We need to get on a little bit of a run and who knows what can happen. And, know, I I didn't even know that stat until the other night about the March 10th or March 9th or whatever it was thing. I think it was March 10th. Yeah. You know, when they lose the first, that first game out of the break to Washington, you're kind of like, oh, here we go again. Like this, had a very bad January. think it was like a three, seven, five winning percentage, which is like, as close as zero, I think you could probably tell. But since then, they've been like 700, more than 700 like in a month, it's kind of crazy the turnaround. You know, I do think a lot of credit needs to go to Rick Tuckett, because they tweak their systems during the Olympic break. You know, he was in Milan with Canada, but they tweak the systems and it just it's, it's helped it immensely. You know, he mentioned it was Pete DeBoer who helped him. with that and you would sit around and talk hockey with John Cooper and ⁓ Bruce Cassidy, who was also on that staff. So, you know, I think a lot of credit goes to someone like a Rick Tocket, who sometimes you have coaches who are like, no, my system's going to be fine. It's the players kind of thing. And I think he realized like his system wasn't working for the team that this, you know, that the Flyers have. mean, this is one of the best rush teams a couple of years ago and they weren't doing that. under his system and now they are again. Did I think it would happen? Maybe a little bit. I mean, it did have them kind of as a maybe in for the playoff. You know, it was hard. I was very like at the beginning of the year, I was debating like, you never know because a first year coach like can finally, are they going to have that fire underneath them? Yeah. Like sometimes you have first year coaches. Like I think Peter Lavio lets like notorious, right? For like the first year with a team, they go to like the stand, like a final or something like that. Like you just never, you never know. Um, So was very on the fence. Like when the season started, I said, maybe that was my prediction. um, did I think when they hit the Olympic break, what happened? No, I think I was definitely like, all right, this is another lost season. man, they're like 18, seven and one since the Olympic break. it's Staggering when you see that. I want to talk about that Olympic break after all these teams came back, you had some teams playing 17 games in 31 days. I saw some teams playing five games in seven. The Flyers are really young. That's the one thing they have is youth. Did they have a little bit of an advantage over some teams because of that youth? I think it's a combination of youth. And I think it's a combination of they have four really good lines now. Like the fourth line really struggled for most of the year, but now it's found a lot of consistency by adding Luke Glendening at the trade deadline. He was actually a waiver claim at the trade deadline. So that's right. I think like he really solidified that fourth line and he's a guy who can, you know, he's a right shot center, which nobody else on the flyers is. So I think that, you know, like, and that was a question I had for a gentleman. fit a need. Yeah, well he did. He really did. mean, you know, Rodrigo Ables went down with an injury late January, which unfortunately kept him out of the Olympics for Latvia. He hasn't played again. And I honestly, I don't know what his status is now that The season's been extended. ⁓ But I do think Luke Glendening helped solidify that fourth line. think they have four lines that they can roll. And I think they've really solidified their defensive pairings with Jamie Drysdale, Cam Yorker combined now. And they're friends off the ice, which I think really helps. You have ⁓ Travis Hanheim and Rista Lyonan together, too. Big bodied, but a little different with their style of game. And then you have obviously the third pairing, kind of rotates a little bit. It's always Nick Sealer. Nick Sealer is always going to play, but then you have, know, Emil Andre, Noah Juleson. ⁓ they kind of rotate. Emil's been a little bit more on, on the blue line now. So yeah, though there is youth, you know, I think Porter Marton has been a nice little shot in the arm. ⁓ wanted to ask, I wanted to ask you about him. He looks a little bit when he's at, he has that net front presence like your coach, Rick Tocket. He reminds me of Tocket there. A big guy, six foot three. He's only played 10 games because he just came from Michigan State. How big of an addition has he been to the Flyers? ⁓ it's huge. I mean, this is a kid. I've said this to a few people. I met Porter Marton first at the combine last year before he was even a Flyer. And what really struck me about him is that I was there a whole week and every time I saw this kid, he was wearing a suit. And I felt like he was like, he was just like professional, like This is his focus. Like this is what he wants to be. I thought I kind of really like took me a little by surprise that because a lot of other kids wear maybe like a polo and nice pants, you know, he was in a suit every time I saw him. And I thought that said a lot about like, this is, he was very like laser focused. Like, this is what I want to do. This is my dream. I'm not veering from this path kind of thing. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with not wearing a suit either, but I'm just saying like it just, especially now with the When he was doing it, there was a, there was a dress code, but now there isn't in the NHL. It's set a tone. It's set a tone. do. I think it's set a tone. And I've talked to him several times throughout the course of the year. Always laser focused. even when I talked to him at the end of December, when he was with hockey Canada for preparing for world juniors, you know, he's like, yeah, I want to stay with Michigan for the season. You know, we want to win a national championship, but basically saying beyond that, I don't know, like paraphrasing, like the NHL is coming close. Yeah, yeah. He was, he's always been this kid, ⁓ great family, great kid, very polished when you talk to him. He's just been a, you going to Michigan State was a huge, like, advantage for him. They really prepared him. Adam Nightingale and his staff did a fantastic job preparing him for the rigors of the NHL. did write, one of the stories I recently wrote was about why he chose Michigan State and how the consistency of the gym and strength training. Um, helped his game prepare for the rigors of the NHL. So I think, yeah, Porto Marton has just been, I mean, you have him who's 19. You have Matthew Michikoff who's 21 who led the team in points. Uh, he finally clips Noah Crates in the last game of the regular season with a three point game. Um, but he led the team at points, you know, after the Olympic break where he used that time to also kind of get his body a little bit in better shape. Um, you know, you have your Tyson Forster just returned. I think he's like 22. Um, Jamie Drizzle, I think he just turned 23 or 24. I can't remember. And now his birthday was recently. Alex Bump who's 22, who's, I don't know how Rick Taki keeps him out of the lineup. I know there's like no place really for him at this moment with Denver Barkey being in, but like his shot, I've always been, I was told last year before I went to the Frozen Four about how good Alex Bump is. And I was like, yeah, he's like a fifth round pick. You know what? No. And then I watched him at the frozen forks. was there covering the frozen for to literally speak to him the whole time. Kids insane. Like people coming up to me as the beat reporter for the flyers and being like, ⁓ that kid's good. Like, do think he slid, slid to the fifth route? He went to high school. He did the high school route in Minnesota. ⁓ I think that was part of it. It's different for guys. now you have all these guys go to college, even as like a 17, 18 year old that are getting drafted, you know, before they turn, before their draft year, he didn't play juniors and like, you know, he stayed high school route. Um, he wanted to stay close to home kind of thing. And I think he just, he just fell. I don't think people, you he's, he's, he's tall, but he's very lanky. So maybe they didn't think whatever, but the kid has an amazing shot. I mean, I don't know if he saw the shot, the goal he scored. I did. Uh, it's a bomb. Tuesday night, like I don't even know what day of week. It's just all I know is, is it a practice day, game day or an off day? That's it. don't even, you've had the way for the NHL to release the schedule. You've been waiting all day for that. And they haven't even done it. They've only released game. They've only given you one game, but yeah, literally I booked my flight like right after and then, or I had heard from a source like that it was happening. So I booked my flight and then literally like four hours later, I just checked in. So yeah, it's been, it's been a day. ⁓ But yeah, no, Alex Bump is great. Denver Barkey, you he's, he's, I think he's generously listed at five nine kind of thing. He's a young kid. He's only 20, 21. Um, and then you have like Oliver, uh, Oliver Bonk who just made his NHL debut in game 82 and he's same age as Denver Barkey or he's 21, I think in Denver Barkey's 20 still. Um. Yeah, they got like a really good youth. And I think it just provides like there's an energy, like there's a, there's a vibe around the team that I think it seems like the city is really grasped to this team because when you see not just the reactions in the fan, the stands that always happens, but just what I'm seeing on talk radio, what I'm seeing in other mediums, it seems like there there's a big buzz around the flyers right now. You have to die hard. aren't going to leave the team, but maybe they weren't happy with how things were going. This was a team, have to remember that two years ago almost made the playoffs too. It came down to pretty much the last game of the season then also. I think just people like the team, like they like the players, they like the excitement. mean, game 82 could have been like a crazy, you know, nothing game, but then you have like two guys making their debuts, you have another guy making his Flyers debut and... I think, um, if I remember correctly, cause it was pretty much my story was that they had 11 players and that includes one goalie. So Kolesov, but they had 11 out of the 20 players that suited up for that game that were under 25 and under. Wow. And then never see that. Never see that. And then they had, was, mean, granted, they rested a lot of guys, right? Of course it was game 82. And then, and I apologize to anyone watching my bird, like so always interject. Hey, though. Hey, that's. Is he a flyers fan? He does fly. Okay. And then I think, know, it was four, two and the four goals. Nobody over the age of 23 had a Matt Vamichkof had three points. Alex bump had his goal. Porter Martone had a goal in an assist. Hunter McDonald had, you he was the old man at 23 beginning on the scoreboard. The score sheet, should say like. Yeah, it's it's it's youth movement is nice. And like I said, it creates like a nice ⁓ vibe in the room. It's very everyone's excited. Everyone's in like, you know, they're just happy to be here a little bit, you know, kind of Alex bump kind of said that after the game, they're happy to be here. But they also obviously want to play and do well. yeah, it's winning helps a lot. Winning. Winning helps a lot. Yes. Jackie, I want to talk real quick about the Lightning and the Montreal Canadiens. You've seen both teams play this year. What are your initial thoughts on this series? I think it'll be interesting. mean, I know like Tampa had a lot of injuries earlier in the year. I don't think you can ever count out John Cooper. I'm a fan of John Cooper and his work. think he's really, you know, he's brilliant coach. Obviously went to Hofstra, New York, you know. ⁓ But ⁓ I didn't go to Hofstra, but I'm from New York. ⁓ you know, I think He's just such a tactician. Like I think he's just so impressive and I don't think you can ever discount a John Cooper team. mean, look what he did this year when you're and it who's out now. Kuturov or Hedman I think is out for a Hedman's out on a personal leaf. Yeah. So like, you know, I don't think you ever count out a John Cooper team. Having said that, Matriol obviously has a Kocofield, has a Nick Suzuki. Dobish has been really good in that, you know, and then Marty St. Louis knows about playing in these big games, you know, he's. He's single-handedly helped, you know, the New York Rangers one year make, you know, go deeper to the playoffs. Um, he, he, he obviously has won a cup with the Tampa Bay Lightning actually. So I don't know if I could give a prediction because I think it's really going to go far. think it might, this might be a very evenly, is it fair to say this isn't evenly matched? Uh, serious. think it's, I think it's a yin and the yang. The Lightning are more of the team that's got to grind it out for check, get below the net. Montreal is speed and chaos. They are fast. I think that speed will give Tampa trouble because Tampa's older on the blue line. They're not the most mobile team. I think it's whichever team dictates the pace is going to win this series. I think it's Tampa and seven. think Montreal might be just a year early. That's fair. I mean, you know, they have Demidov too. They have, you know, Slavkovski. I mean, they have youth also, like we talked about the Flyers. You can't discount Cole Caulfield scoring 50. Like, or 51. What did he, well, this is a final number. 51. Like you cannot discount that. I think it's a good test for Nick Suzuki as the captain. ⁓ he's still a young captain in a lot of ways. ⁓ but he's also one of the best two way guys at center. So. You never know. one of the stats I was able to find when Suzuki got a hundred points, he's the first Canadian to have a hundred points. Since Matt's Nazlund, that stunned me. It's not as if the Canadians have been void of talent. They've had talented players. Saku Koyvoo back in the early 2000s was a really good player. I just was stunned that it's been that long since they had a hundred point score. And it's been a while since they had a 50 goal score too with Caulfield, right? So Jesus makes me feel old. ⁓ We're going to the way back machine. That's like when I was in high school with Stephane Richet. Like it's kind of surprising. mean, we kind of hit the NHL where they don't have guys, you know, like it's not the days of when like, uh, Solani scored what was it? 70 something as a rookie. 76. Yeah. 76 I think it was. And then you have like, you know, you Brett Hulls and your John McClare. They think had a high number one year. Like, you know, Keith Kachuk scored 50 goals because his name is sounds like a goal being scored. Do you remember that commercial? I think you made that commercial when played for the coyotes. They did. No, but it's like, I think the, the, the NHL is not built that way anymore, but maybe it, maybe it's turn, you know, know, since it's in Gretzky out there, you know, scoring like over like 200 something, put Mario scoring over 200 points, like Yager, like it's, it's changed a lot in terms of like what works, but, um, I mean, like the Flyers are like stingy defensive team. Talk its philosophy is like, shoot wherever you want. I don't really care. Just don't shoot from the middle of the ice kind of, kind of thing. They're like one of the best in like goals against for the Flyers. So it's the game's changed, but maybe it's turning back a little bit because who doesn't love goals. Goalies don't, but. Well, in talking about goaltenders, you see a lot more teams do a split share. You see teams right now. I don't know if Carolina is going to start Boosie. If they're going to start Frederick Anderson, you have the penguins with Skinner and she lost. I got to ask you a couple of questions because I know we're short on time here, but what goaltender in the East do you think could steal a series? Well, I might be a little biased here because I've watched his entire season and I was one of the few people who was actually like, this is a great. pick up by the Flyers in the offseason, but I do think Dan Vildar is someone who could potentially do that. When he's on his game, it's, I've not, I don't think I've seen a goalie that is as active with his stick than I've seen in Dan Vildar. And I mean that in terms of like poke checking guys and doing it aggressively where you're like, what is he doing? And then it works and it's like, ⁓ okay. That's cool. just has that sick sense about it. Yeah. He did it like a bunch in like Detroit. ⁓ I know he gave up a couple of goals there, but like there was a couple of times he did it where you're just like, That's fantastic. Like usually goalies just wait for it to kind of come and he's just like so aggressive. ⁓ I, I do think when he's on his game, he could be someone that can shut this team down. The players have to be obviously like on their game too. It's very much has to go in tandem. Try to think of the goalies. I mean, it's Vasilevsky has to be someone you put down that list, right? Like there's no doubt about it. ⁓ Mark, maybe if he's, you know, if he's on his game, could be someone that can do that. If he's the one in net for Ottawa, ⁓ talk real quick about Ottawa. Jeremy Swainman is someone obviously. want to talk real quick about Ottawa. A lot of people have them as that dangerous lower seed that could do a lot of damage. I don't think that's who Carolina wanted to play. think they would have rather played Boston. Meanwhile, I think Buffalo would have rather played Ottawa, but that being said, In your opinion, who's that dangerous lower seed that you think is really going to give some teams a sleepless night? Well, I do think it's Ottawa. I do. I do. mean, you can go 50 50 with them in Boston because they are the two wild cards. And let's be realistic. Boston has David Posternak. You know, they do have German, Jeremy Swainman and Ned. They have Charlie McEvoy. know, the, ⁓ Fraser Minton's on that team now. You have guys that can are game changers, right? David Posterdock is a game changer. 100%. So could they, could they steal the game from, Buffalo. Well, thank you. Buffalo. It's been a, it's been a long couple of days for you Jackie. I like I don't leave my computer right now. ⁓ I think that's a team that could. Really take them to the, to the end Ottawa. Yes. think I've always been a big fan of Travis green and how he coaches. Um, you know, you have your Brady could get their young team to write your Tim Stootsla's and your Jake Sandersons and obviously Brady could Chuck. know, they could be, they could be hard. mean, Carolina, you really want to hope one day they kind of get it all together and, and, push it and make that final. And I mean, Rob Rendemort has done the work there, right? Like, yeah. But they always seem to hit a wall at some point for some reason. It's always the conference finals. It's unbelievable. You like to think that maybe this is the year granted they would have to, you know, the Flyers beat the Penguins. They would play them in the second round. Yeah. The hard question marks obviously with Caroline and the goaltending, although, you know, I thought Brendan Busseys looked good, but like, obviously, you know, then you have your Freddie Andersons and I think Koshyakov still, I like to think the Meele get it together and not fall apart for once. But I think the East is more wide open than. people realize is the West pretty much Colorado and whoever wins the Dallas Minnesota series. they have to play each other in the second round though. That's the only right. I think Vegas is in the conversation too. I do, especially with sorts behind the bend. I do think Vegas, you know, let me look, Vegas is stacked with the dad roster, you know, Jack Ico always comes up big in the big games, Mitch Marner, you know, he said his struggles in the playoffs. in Toronto, but he's not in Toronto anymore. He's in Vegas and he's, have guys who know how to win on that team too. They've won a cup within the last couple of years. You know, I think maybe their goaltending is a little, know, Carter, Carter Hart has not looked as, ⁓ as good. I think the West is a little bit more. Yeah. It'll be Colorado or Dallas or Minnesota, whoever ends up out of that. Out of those, that trio. Yeah. Yeah. I do think, ⁓ it'll be one of those three teams. I. My, my preseason pick was actually Dallas over Carolina in the final. Why I wish I had that betting ticket right now. going to be a great exacted hit at the sports book. That was who I had at the very, very beginning of the season. I have a personal, hope personally hope Minnesota makes it just because of, ⁓ my friend, Jesse Pierce. And I know that, ⁓ she's watching down on that team, you know, the nhl.com reporter who passed away with her three children. ⁓ little, little bit of, think they have a little. little push, maybe, um, she's been covering little, little halo over, overlooking them. Yeah. She was covering minutes. Yeah. She covered Minnesota hockey for decades. I don't know. It's, think the East is a little bit more open than we thought. And I think any team can come out of the East at this point. I don't think Buffalo is like this juggernaut that people, know, that Carolina's not a juggernaut in a lot of ways. Um, because, because of the demons and look at Toronto, we know the demons exist. 1967. Barocco, they found him and they won and they haven't won since. So that's quite a little tragically hip for you, but yeah, it'll be just what happened. Like I said, I had Carolina Dallas. I'm going to stick with that for now. Jackie, I know you're busy. You have to plan on getting to Pittsburgh by Saturday. First of all, thank you for joining us for everyone. You can see Jackie's writings at the Philadelphia Inquirer website, www.inquirer.com. Jackie, great catching up to you. Hope to see you in Pittsburgh here in a little bit. good. Thanks so much for having me. You got it. Well, we can't thank Jackie enough for joining us. Some great insight on the Penguins Flyer series and the NHL in general. I've known Jackie for a while. It was great to have her on the show. Now it's time for Justin and Jason's NHL playoff picks. So ladies and gentlemen, here we go. First of all, Justin Sins and the Canes. Carolina won the series 2 to 1. This is a pretty interesting series. Ottawa... had to earn their way into the playoffs. had 99 points. It's the highest of any eight seed ever in NHL history. They are a feisty bunch. They four check the hell out of the game. Carolina, a lot of talent. know they're bugaboos in the Eastern Conference finals. Justin, what are your initial thoughts on the series? ⁓ honestly, I think this could be one of the more entertaining series in the first round. ⁓ we know Carolina is going to play with a lot of pace. They're going to fire a lot of shots at that the netminders, they have a lot of that youth. The lightening of just saw him recently that, know, that top line of shrews, dudes, little and Batherson, ⁓ is a pretty good first line. So I think they're going to be able to hold their own. They've been really solid defensively over the last year. They're touring their run up to the playoffs. fact that Thomas Shabbat is back after breaking his arm. think the guy was out for like two weeks or something. Yeah. Yeah. Surgery on his arm. He's back in there. It does make you wonder how. healthy he actually is, you know, is he playing at 70 % is that going to be a factor if he starts taking some hits, you know, over a sustained series, is he going to be able hold up to it? A lot of question marks in this. Carolina has a lot to prove this year. think they are to me, they are the favorite in the East, but again, they still have to make it to the Eastern conference final to be able to exorcise those demons. ⁓ yeah, it should be a fun series. think Carolina did enough to improve their depth that they're going to be able to pull this one out. feel like Carolina in five six games. I think Ottawa gives them a shot here and there, but I think Carolina is just too deep this year. Their defense is a little bit better. I think Nick, Nick Ehlers is going to be a big factor in it. They can get goals from him. They're going to be all right. You had mentioned in Nikolai Ehlers acquisition, they brought him in as a free agent, had a career high 72 points. He is a big addition in terms of depth scoring in Carolina. I think this series is going to come down to goaltending. There's questions in that is it gonna be Anderson? Is it gonna be Busey? For Ottawa Linus Olmark has been inconsistent all year, even though he has a little bit more of a track record. I think it's gonna be Busey in that for Carolina to be honest. I'd be shocked if they go to Frederick Anderson. I think Carolina is too deep. I think they're just too balanced. I go Carolina in five. Let's go. To the boys of the Niagara Buffalo. got a lot of hate when we said we didn't think that they were a Stanley cup. they weren't a state, sir. You said they were to Stanley cups team. I am not involved in that statement whatsoever. Well, just all since right there. They played Boston and one of the points I made the Jackie in our interview was I think Buffalo would have rather have played Ottawa. And I think Carolina would have rather have played Boston. I think this is a tough matchup. look at the season series, it was won by Boston three to one. Boston has the top end talent, Pasternak, Morgan, Kiki had a great season. Jeremy Swainman and Nett. I think Boston has the kind of guys who can steal the series. Buffalo is more balanced. I'm going to give them that. I just think that in terms of star power, in terms of guys who could swing a series, Boston is loaded with them. I think it's Boston and sixth. Yeah. ⁓ I think it's a great test for Buffalo. mean, they're super excited to be in the playoffs. They broke the curse, whatever curse it may have been. ⁓ if there was a curse, I don't know, but, ⁓ they're back in for after a long time. I don't think they're one of these teams that, Hey, we made it. That's great. Who cares what happens. They want to win the Stanley cup. And I think they do have the talent to do it. Honestly. I think they're a lot deeper than teams give them credit for. They play with pace. They're really good team, but Boston is a great test for him. You know, after kind of a slow start, Boston has just been a good team all year long. They haven't been a sexy team. haven't been an exciting team, but they've been really good. Morgan geeky was kind of slumping a little bit there for an end, but he finished his season really well. You know, he started to put the puck back in the net. So that's a good sign for them. They're big, you know, the big question mark for them is, they going to be able to get that secondary scoring? No. Is that Pabel's Oka line? going to be able to put the puck in the net and take some of the pressure off of the top line with pastor neck. And then you got Swainman and that, and you know, he's probably one of the top goalies in the league. He can steal a game or two here. If Buffalo does get their four check rolling and then starts piling up the shots, he's good enough to, know, like I said, steal a game. So it's going to be a good test. I think it's honestly, I got Buffalo and six in this one. I think they're good enough that they're going to pull this out. They may stumble game one or game two, maybe a little too much excitement. you know, opening the building. ⁓ one of these things where they started home and that, know, the, energy is going to be electric up in that building, which it hasn't been for 10 to 15 years. ⁓ so yeah, so, know, everyone's going to be pumped up. think they may put a little too much pressure on themselves in game one. I can see Boston coming in and stealing that one. But, ⁓ overall, think Buffalo funds their game. And I think they advance after a pretty tough rugged series. point I wanted to make David Pasternak had. A great season, a hundred points. I thought when Cricci retired, you would see his game suffer some. He's proved me wrong. He's been even better with him being out, you know, with Cricci retiring. I really give Pasternak a lot of credit. He's, he's been a top flight NHL player. And I should say this, he came into the season without a true number two and Morgan Geeky is the person who became that. Yeah. Yeah. Havagiki, you know, being able to score, took a lot of pressure off of Pashinac. He kind of turned into more of a playmaker, uh, than he's been in the past. He's kind of the last guy standing there from the glory years for the, for the Bruins. Marchand's in Florida, Creeche retired, um, Patrice Bergeron retired, Zedato's gone. So, you know, Pashinac's still there. last man left. Yeah, he's the last man there and he's, he's thriving. He's not just going out on the ice and going through the motions. I mean, the guy had a legitimately great year, didn't get a lot of press for it. I I referred to him as the second best winger in the league behind Kuturov now. And I still believe that. he's one of these guys who can take over series and, ⁓ you know, just drag the Bruins through it. But, ⁓ again, I just think Buffalo is a little bit too good this year and, they're going to find a way to pull it off. Let's talk about the Penguins and the Flyers. We know the Penguin situation. It's Crosby, it's Malkin, it's LaTang. It may be their final run. They are playing a team that's coming into the playoffs red hot in the Philadelphia Flyers. Again, nine points out of a playoff spot around March the 10th. They finished in third place. They've vaulted a lot of teams to get there. The Flyers are young, they're dynamic, they're going to be quick. For me, I think the question is who plays in net for the Penguins? I think it's gonna be Stuart Skinner to start. But are they going to be effective? know the last three games, the Penguins sent a lot of people, but defensively they were bad. They gave up. I want to say close to 20 goals in those last three games. I think this is a little bit of a danger sign for the Penguins. think the Flyers youth and speed catches up to them. think Flyers and six. Yeah, I think go to any is going to be your big, you know, your big question mark, ⁓ even for, even for the Flyers. mean, and they're probably gonna go with Dan later. And he's not exactly playoff tested as well. So this could be one of those where maybe there's some five to four games in this Kent. And the question is going to be is Ken Pittsburgh. Keep the running gun going with the younger team. think, you know, Porter Matrone's come in and had a great rookie debut. He could be a key factor for this. This flyers team. That's just maybe they're too young to know they're not supposed to win this series. And I think there's a lot of parallels between this series and the lightning series where you have the, you know, the old lions trying for one last ride here with. you know, Crosby and Malkin, can they, you know, will their way, use their experience and find a way to sneak one out here. If they can win a game or two in Philly, then it's pretty much all over. The Paquans did a good job of surrounding ⁓ Crosby with some talent. mean, that Igor or Chenokov move may go down as one of the best moves of the season. ⁓ Finding, cause he's coming in, he's playing top line minutes for him now. He said he's a top six forward, scored 17 goals for them in about 40 games. then they got, you know, Ben Kindle down there on that third line. So it's going to be a fun series. think it's, it's going to get ugly at times. I think if there's any two teams that might have a headline social media darling bra, it could be these two. They just don't like each other. Could be a fun series to watch. I want to pick the flyers in this to tell you the truth. ⁓ I like fliers in seven, maybe, maybe this is upset of the, uh, upset of the first round. we both had that. do think something that people don't talk about is Rick Tuckett was an assistant coach for the penguins to Stanley cups when they won back to back in 16 and 17. He knows Crosby, Malkin and LaTang. He knows them well enough. He knows how to defend them and have a strategy against them. I think that is going to be big in this series. Justin. We're going to end with the lightning in the Habs. So let's go to the Western Conference, the Dallas Stars, the Minnesota Wild. I always feel like the Minnesota Wild are the version of Cousin Oliver and the Brady Bunch. They're good enough to be on some episodes, but they're never good enough to get past the first round. They face Dallas once again. Let's face it. The central division is a juggernaut. Minnesota is a really good team. They just also happen to be in a division with the Colorado Avalanche who won the president's trophy and the Dallas stars who I believe finished with the second highest point total in the league. The other thing I want to say is Dallas comes into this series with some injuries. Miro Haskinen is questionable. You got Roman Hines who's going to be at miss at least the first two games, the high scoring center. I think those are some. major hurdles that Dallas is going to have to overcome. I'm saying that, Hey, Minnesota is no longer going to be cousin Oliver. They're going to get a regular spot on the Brady bunch. They're moving on to the second round in seven. ⁓ think this is your, your marquee matchup for the first round right here. It's kind of been the matchup we've known is going to take place for the longest time as well, just with the way that the standings were, were kind of playing out. So these two teams had known they're going to play each other for a while. They've scouted each other. Minnesota's big thing was. the first round losses that they've had the last few years, you know, not being able to get to the second round and Billy Garren wanted to build a team that was better at five on five that was deeper. And I think he actually did a pretty good job of doing it. Of course, the splash this move was going out and getting Quinn Hughes, ⁓ which really changed their offense, really, really sparked their offense, ⁓ when they went on their long run, you know, starting in the mid December and then kind of carried them into the playoffs. So, but, know, he also, added Vlad Teresenko, ⁓ in the off season. guy who some thought maybe, maybe a little bit washed up, but he had a strong season, especially at five on five. ⁓ their rookie, Danielle Europe has had a strong season. He's a great two way forward added that depth at the deadline with Michael McCarran and, ⁓ the Filino brother, the Filino's are reunited in Minnesota and can carry that team into the playoffs. Hopefully. So it's going to be, I think that's going be a tough series. It's going to be an ugly series at times. There's a lot of scoring talent for Dallas. got Jason Robertson. probably wants to show Billy Garren that he deserved to be on the Olympic team. There could be a little revenge factor there for them. ⁓ but I think it's going to come down to goaltending as well. Can Jake Odinger pull it off? He's going to face a lot of shots and he's going to face, especially if the Minnesota gets on the power play, they have a really great power play unit with Kaprizov, know, cues, Matt Boldy out there, Teresenko, and there's just a lot of options for him. So it's going to be a fun series. It's going to get ugly at times. It's going to be one in the trenches, despite all that talent. So I got Minnesota, you know, with the edge. think Minnesota goes in six. both have a couple upsets. So we both have the flyers. We both have the Minnesota wild. Now let's move to the president's trophy. When in Colorado Avalanche, they just steamed rolled the entire season. They faced the LA Kings. Now the Kings for an eight seed have some high end talent. They did get our Temi Panarin right before the deadline. They did play better hockey in order to make the playoffs. A lot of people didn't think they were going to be in there. They found a way to get that eight seed, but Justin, you're going against Nathan McKinnon, Kale McCarr. I think it's too much. think Avalanche, I want to say a sweep, but I'm going to say Avalanche and five. I'll give the Kings one. There you go. Good old gentleman sweep there. ⁓ yeah, congratulations Kings. You over time your way, you betment point your way into the playoffs. ⁓ and your reward is the Colorado Avalanche. Probably the deepest team. I would think if you're, won the president's trophy, if you're ranking your teams are probably at the top of the leaderboard right there. ⁓ just like you said, the depth, ⁓ you know, that Brock Nelson move last year and then even some of the moves they'd made this year bringing in, you know, some, some nice depth players. McCarran can take over series McKinnon can take over series. Martin Nakes can take over series. He had a really strong year. think not a lot of people are talking about. there's just too much talent on Colorado right now. If they were to go out in the first round, would be be comparable to the lightning blues in 2018 19th. know, it's not impossible could happen, but I highly, highly doubt it. So I'm with you on this one. ⁓ avalanche in five. Let's head to. The Utah Mammoth, the Vegas Golden Knights, Vegas finished on a heater, 7-0-1-1 in their last eight. Hey, they did the NHL version of fire their coach and get hot. John Tortorella hasn't seen a regulation loss since he's been the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas has high end talent. They have depth. They play an upstart Utah team, a team that might be a year early, but They have a lot of young talent. It's going to be their first time through the riggers. I think even though I liked the advantage of Utah and that with Carl Velmeca, I think that's big. If Utah is going to win this series, I think it's because Vegas goaltending between Aiden Hill and Carter Hart, they can't figure out who to start and they both have bad series, which I could see happening. I think Utah is the type of team that could do it. I just don't think this is the year I'm going to say golden Knights in six. This is the one actually don't even have a team circled on this one. I'm, you know, I'm completely, ⁓ kind of flummoxed by this one a little bit. want to go with the We're going to get an off the cuff Justin Godfrey pick. I'm at the sports book. Hey, we're putting it on this team. Exactly. Yeah. Last minute. Yeah. Last minute, you know, throw a dart at the two teams and figure out who wins. ⁓ You know, you kind of wonder if this is one of those things where Vegas gets exposed for being maybe a little bit older team, especially on their defense. Utah is a good team. They got that nice youth foundation there. They could pull off the upset. I wouldn't be super surprised to see that. You know, Torz is going to have Vegas playing a dirtier style of hockey than they're used to. lot more blocking shots, a lot more taking away passing lanes as opposed to, you know, trying to for an uptempo offensive team, despite the amount of talent on their team. And the same token, also think Vegas is one of these teams where you just get to the playoffs and then figure it out from them. They have the potential to find that second gear to kick it up and then just, you know, make, make me look like a fool by taking out Utah and like five games or something like that. Utah is kind of a wild card in this. You don't know how they're going to play. It's been a while since, uh, you know, it's technically their first time in the playoffs, but you know, based on their Arizona lineage, it's been a while since any of these players have been in, in the postseason, but they still have like. Sergeychev who has two cups under his belt. So they have some leadership that's done it before. Vegas in the just in the final series. We're going to talk about are the Anaheim ducks. finished in third in the Pacific. They're going to be facing the Edmonton oilers. The oilers have been the two straight Stanley cup finals. We all know about Connor McDavid. It looks like Leon Dreisaitl is at least questionable to return. If there's one series that's going to have a lot of offense, it's this one. They've played high scoring games throughout their season series. Edmonton won the series two games to one. I still have questions if Edmonton can stop a puck. I really do. I don't believe in Connor Ingram. Tristan Jarre has been Swiss cheese ever since he was traded from Pittsburgh to Edmonton. I'm going to go with another upset here. I'm going to say Ducks and Sevenths. My initial thought when I saw this matchup, if Edmonton loses this series, burn it to the ground. Trade McDavid, trade Dry Settle. You're never going to win. ⁓ you know, looking a little bit deeper into it. Does Anaheim have a chance? Yes. You know, I think they're kind of in the same boat. Philly is, a lot of young talent that maybe doesn't. Isn't aware of the expectations, you know, against them. think Edmonton's depth is going to pull through a little bit, which is a weird thing to say about Edmonton. I think they're the deeper team. And I will give you, I will send to you this Philip Hollander green rookie ice card. You can name one player, just one player without looking up on the Anaheim Ducks fourth line right now, according to daily, according to daily faceoff. Alex Kowar. Nope. He's on their second line. See, is he on their second line? He's on there. According to Daily Faceoff, it's him, Grandland and Beckett Sinekki on their second line. One player. Well, I know Chris Criders has a bigger role. Top line, baby. Leo Carlson and Troy Terry. Yeah. Who do you got? So according to Daily Faceoff, as of right now. ⁓ Let me say, are they going to put Mason McTavish on that fourth line? He is on the third line. with Ryan Proling and Cutter Gaultier. know that I know McTavish has been in the dog house. I've mentioned him. So, ⁓ yeah. And I don't see anybody really injured. So Jeffrey Beale, Tim Wash and Ian Moore are your fourth line for the Anaheim Ducks according to daily faceoff. So I think that that does become a factor in this series. I that isn't the deepest team, but they are deeper than Anaheim. If They split up McDavid and dry side on, do think dry side was going to be ready for game one. I just don't think and I'm has the depth to match up in a seven game series against Edmonton. Again, you mentioned it. Goal tending for both teams is going to be, ⁓ a big key factor. You know, Connor Ingram has been good. ⁓ he hasn't been great. Is that going to be enough for them? Is he going to pull off a Stuart Skinner, you know, that we saw the last couple of years where he just gives them adequate enough goaltending. to make it through those early rounds. It's a big question. I may joke about the depth in Anaheim, but their young talent is really good. mean, Beckett Sinekke came out of nowhere ⁓ this year. And the fact that you have a cut or got the egg playing on the third line is a good sign, you know, for them. So it's going to be an interesting play. think Leo Carlson is one of the most underrated young players in the game today. I think the guy just does everything really well. You know, and I've talked with some Anaheim folks and he's just not appreciated enough. I think Anaheim's, Anaheim's your Hey, we're happy to be here kind of team. You know, we're not supposed to be here. We're ahead of schedule. It's great that we made the playoffs this year. Look for us to be a force in the future, but you know, we'll give you a token win. got admitted in five. So my final series we need to talk about are the Tampa Bay lightning and the Montreal Canadians. We did the series preview with Jared book. The one thing we do know now is the schedule. The lightning start on Sunday. They play Tuesday in Tampa. have a couple of days off before they head to Montreal for Friday, Sunday, and then they have another two day off period before they finish out this series. Justin, I actually think the schedule helps Tampa a little bit. Anytime you're the older team, having a couple extra days off is always a benefit. I told Jackie, I think this is a tough series. think it just depends on which team can enforce their system. Is Tampa going to be able to for check is Montreal speeding chaos going to take over? That's going to be who wins the series. have Tampa and so, I think, ⁓ that's probably makes us a series for series. ⁓ not a lot of disagreement. Good to us, which is always great for ratings, right? ⁓ anyways, ⁓ yeah, I feel like it's lightning at six or seven. think that's what I said in our, you know, in our preview with Jared the other day, but You're right. It's which team is going to be able to dictate the pace of play. The two extra days off do help the lightning. Um, and I think the fact that doesn't start till Sunday helps the lightning, uh, more than it helps the Montreal who do technically have an extra day off. But I think once you get over, you know, three days off, it's, it's kind of meaningless. Like going from three days to four days isn't that big of an advantage. Whereas going from two days off to three days off, I think it's a little bit more of an advantage for the lightning. You know, they're going to practice today. over in Brandon, I believe. So we'll get an idea of what the lines are going to look like. Who's healthy. Who's going to be in. Yeah. Should be a fun series. think goaltending is going to be a big deal. think Vasileski has a potential to steal a game or two, even if Montreal gets there kind of chaos going with, with the first line. what are the interesting things? It's been doing the research here as far as even strengths scoring. think it's going to be big for the lightning to keep this at five on five. I know there's been some county issues. from time to time in the last expression, the last two games. But from my research, the line of a Slavkowski, Caulfield and Suzuki, they played 33 minutes together against the lightning. They scored three goals at five on five in the 108 minutes that they haven't been on the ice. One of say the 108 minutes, one of those three players hasn't been on the ice. Montreal hasn't scored an even strength goal. Um, they've been outscored five to nothing by the lightning. So that, that line has three, Caulfield and Suzuki together have one. And then Sulkowski has two, ⁓ when he was on a line of separate lines, that's an advantage for the Lightning. They can keep it on five on five. You let the Caulfield Suzuki line do what they do. And you try and hold, you know, you try and bend and don't break when they're on the ice. And then you dominate when the other three lines are out there. If the Lightning can pull that off, I think that's going be a big factor, especially as the series goes on. Cause now you force Montreal to have to think about breaking up that top line. If they're not getting any scoring out of that secondary unit, those secondary units. So I think the lightning's death helps him out in this one, especially if everybody's healthy. We know home bird's not going to play, if Nick Paul jumps on that line and gives him that solid third line, I got the lightning and seven in this one. Well, Justin, we've given our playoff predictions. It's time for everyone to hit the betting window and probably do the opposite because we agree on way too much. Exactly. Our next podcast will be on Monday. We are going to recap game one of the Montreal Canadians Tampa Bay Lightning series. We will preview game two. We'll take a look around the league and see what games have surprised us and which ones ended up as we expected. For Justin Godfrey, you can read every day at www.rawcharge.com, I'm Jason Lankes. Thanks for joining us here on Back Checking the Bolts. Please hit that like and subscribe button and go Bolts. Go Bolts. Thank you for listening to Back Checking the Bolts. We are free and available on all platforms including Apple, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Amazon, YouTube, and Deezer. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe and leave a review. You can follow Justin on bluesky at rawcharge.com. You can follow the show on X at Tampa underscore bolts underscore pod and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at Back Checking the Bolts. If you're interested in advertising on the show or partnering with us, You can find more information in the show notes or email Jason at backcheckingthebolts at yahoo.com.