Latest / Backchecking the Bolts / Tampa Bay Lightning Eliminated - Canadiens Series Recap + Sabres Preview ft. Jared Book
Transcript
- Jason Linkes: Coming up on back checking the bolts. The Tampa Bay lightning season comes to an end, but what really decided the first round battle with Montreal? Joining us is Jared book from Habs eyes on the prize to break down how Montreal won the series and where Tampa fell short. Then things heat up and crossfire. Jared book and raw charges. Justin Godfrey go head to head debating the biggest turning points, coaching decisions and defining moments. from the Lightning and Canadians playoff series. And finally, what comes next for Montreal? Jared gives us his scouting reports on the Canadians second round showdown with Buffalo and whether this playoff run is just getting started. This is Back Checking the Bolts and it starts now. 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. Welcome to back checking the bolts. Hi, I'm Jason link. As always, I am joined by my cohort, Justin Godfrey. You can read him each and every day at www.rawcharge.com and for the second time and to wrap up the Montreal Tampa series, we're joined by Jared book from Habs eyes on the prize. He's going to give us the latest and greatest on the Montreal Canadians as they look forward to the series against Buffalo. But this episode is going to be the recap episode. We are going to go and Take a look back at that Montreal Tampa seven game series. What did we like? What we did? What didn't we like? What were the turning points? We're going to have Justin and Jarrett iron it out and we're going to break this series down. But first of all, let's welcome Jarrett Bookin. Jarrett, we just watched game one of the Montreal Buffalo series, Montreal losing by a score of four to two. What were your initial thoughts? I knew there was going to be an adjustment because I'm sure we'll get to it. Tampa Bay and Montreal was not playoff speed. It was intense like a playoff series. It was not fast. And I think Montreal really struggled early on to get used to that pace. And I think game one was always going to be hard for them, but it's a seven game series for a reason. ⁓ they have time to recover. But yeah, mean, it's completely different styles of play. And I think that there is an adjustment there for sure to be had. Previously Buffalo oh for their last 22 on the power play to end the regular season one for 24 against Boston They went two for three last night Was it some was there something out there that Buffalo did that surprised Montreal or was it just better execution? I Think it was execution. I think also Most of the goals that were just there's weird bounces the the first power play goal in particular was a rebound that landed perfectly where it needed to. Little things like that. Buffalo also had a lot more time to prepare than Montreal did for game one. Not that's an excuse, it's just a reality. And special teams is where that shows up more than anything else. It's a lot easier to be at home, watch game seven and figure out who you're going to play then, then win game seven and then have to prepare for Buffalo afterwards. ⁓ Quick turnaround, but I'm not too worried. The penalty kill for Michelle has been pretty good all season. It was good in the Tampa series more often than not. I think just the speed really is something that they needed to catch up on. And I think that caused a lot of the penalties as well. But even the first penalty was just a bad doubt. They stick in the wrong place and it just trips a guy and that happened a couple of times. things like that. But not too worried. That's why it's a series. Jared, what did Montreal do after they won in Tampa? Did they go right to Buffalo? Did they go back home? What did they do? No, and when Marte St. Louis said, we're not leaving, he meant it literally. They stayed in Tampa a couple of days. I think they had one day of just off day and then they had a practice actually in Tampa before leaving for Buffalo ⁓ earlier this week, maybe Tuesday even. ⁓ So yeah, that's what they did. They stayed in Tampa a couple extra nights and Then made their way to Buffalo and the original plan I think was to go straight to Buffalo But I think just the way game seven went they they realized that you know better just to stay a little bit and take their time For those watching the Montreal Buffalo series What are two things that you think that the fans need to look forward to determine who's gonna win this series? I Think that one of the big things is just to look at It sounds cliche, but which goaltender is better? ⁓ I think that the two goaltenders that don't really have a lot of playoff history, ⁓ Dobisch and Lyon, mean, they're having playoff. For this year, Alex Lyon's biggest playoff moment was getting pulled for Borowski on the way to the Panthers first cup, right? And Dobisch obviously is in his second full, first full playoff run as a starter. I think that that's something that's going to be interesting. think that in the first game, especially, Dobrish couldn't see most of the goals that went in. And I think a lot of that was just Munchel trying to react quickly and getting in the wrong spots and ⁓ lots of errors of execution, things like that. I think that's one thing. I think the other thing is just to see how Munchel comes out in game two. I think that's going to be the most telling thing in this series. Game one, you can kind of flush it. put it down to a bunch of different things, not that they're excuses, but they're just realities. If they don't come out stronger in game two, then it could be a really short series. Give us your prediction. I said before game one, Montreal in six, and I feel like I'd be ⁓ cheating if I change it after game one. Obviously in six games is going to be a little bit tougher just math-wise losing game one. But I mean, if they win game two. It comes up about the same thing. don't think anybody would have expected them to sweep. I don't think anybody would have expected them to sweep the first two games in Buffalo. So I'm going to stick with Montreal and six, but like in the Tampa series, if it goes seven, I will not be shocked at all. ⁓ two very evenly matched teams. ⁓ they had the same number of goals in the season series. It was tied very similar to Montreal and Tampa going into that series as well. So, ⁓ it wouldn't surprise me if it goes seven. I just don't see. Montreal losing game six, ⁓ at home a second time. ⁓ whether that's to stay alive or whether that's to win the series that's to be determined if it gets there. ⁓ but, that's where I'm going in, in Montreal and six. Justin, had Buffalo in six. Did you have Montreal? I think I, yeah, I think I jumped on the Montreal bandwagon. I remember who knows. I wasn't a fog for that entire podcast. ⁓ no, I had, like Jared said, I think it's kind of, You know, it's an even match and a lot faster for sure. ⁓ but I think you got, you got two teams that haven't been here in quite a while. So, you know, winning the first round is nice. You know, Hey, we won the first round. Now it's kind of getting real, if you will. So, ⁓ competition stepped up now. Real playoff, cause you win, you're in the conference final and then you're just one step away. So I think it's going be a really good series. ⁓ it's going to be interesting to see how the goaltenders match up. think if at the beginning of season, you would say that. Buffalo would have Alex Lyon and Montreal would have Jakub Bilbis as your playoff goaltenders. Both franchises would be kind of stunned, but yeah, it should make for a lot of fun. think, I think both fan bases would be shocked. be in the playoffs. Nevermind in round two. If you told them those would be just starting goalies. A fun fact of this series, the last time Montreal beat Buffalo in the playoffs, Jarrett was, remember the year? 93. 93. And that was the last time the Canadians paraded with the Stanley cup for Buffalo. They have not been to the second round of the NHL playoffs since 2007. And that year they lost to the Ottawa senators in the conference finals guys. Let's recap the Montreal Tampa series. We're going to have this across fire segment, Jared, since you did the majority of the talking earlier, I'm going to start with Justin. Justin, what was the one thing that surprised you in this series? I think it would probably have to be the play of dovish. I thought that was one area that the Lightning could probably exploit a young netminder without a lot of NHL playoff experience. And he came through. think we talked about a little bit last podcast. He wasn't necessarily overwhelmingly spectacular, but he made the saves he had to make, you know, and that's with the way they were playing in front of them. ⁓ make that first save, let his defenders clear out any rebound chances, any second chance opportunities. That's all he had to do. And I thought, especially in the couple of times when the lightning really pressured him, he made the saves he had to make. If you look back, I think really the only, probably two soft goals he gave up were the ones in game five off the rush. Maybe the one Hagel goal as well from the, from the boards, but he was solid, especially in game seven when they needed them. And I think that proved to be the difference. Thought Vasileski played outstanding. I thought Vasileski played good enough to win, but Dobish was just a little bit better. Jerk. I think the thing that surprised me is just how good Tampa Bay was in shutting down Montreal's top players. ⁓ I joked about it when the nominations came out yesterday, that if the voting was after playoffs, Anthony Cirelli would have a much better chance of winning the Salchie than he did after regular season. I just think that that was a really big part of the series. think that, and what intrigued me is that the matchups weren't, were really pretty even the entire series. Like nothing really changed much in terms of line matching and things like that. There are a couple little tweaks here and there, but ⁓ it was pretty much just, you know, going at it. It was not really much a tactical adjustment as much as it was, little things like that. But yeah, I mean, if you would have told me that one show would win the series with practically no five on five production from that top line, I probably wouldn't have believed you. And so that probably surprised me is just the fact that it went seven. despite Montreal's top line not doing very much at even train. Jared, I'll start with you with this question. Who on your team was the biggest surprise and who on your team was the biggest disappointment in the series? Biggest surprise, I think. I said it before the series, Kirby Dock. I mean, he came up big in big spots. Obviously, the mistake in game two was a big storyline. The reaction from the fan base was not very, very... good for a portion of the fan base, let's be real here, was not very good. But came out strong in game three, ⁓ that line really set the tone in game three and ⁓ got some big goals in game five. just, you know, he's had a better, he scored a big goal in game one of the Buffalo series ⁓ as well. I think that he's just, we didn't see this Kirby Dawkin in regular season. So I kind of expect him to take a step up, but the fact that he did, I think was pretty surprising. Biggest disappointment for me is easy. It's Cole Caulfield. Not that he played badly, but he wasn't Cole Caulfield and he wasn't Cole Caulfield in game one of the Buffalo series. I think he's in his head a little bit. He's scared to shoot. And I think that that's not a place you want to be. I think he just shoot more the way he is right now. ⁓ But yeah, I think that was the biggest disappointment. Not that he played badly, but I think you expect a 51 goal scorer to score more than one goal in a seven game series. I don't think that's too much to ask. ⁓ but you know, his, his all around game is better and that's why he's not hurting the team, but definitely not contributing as much as ⁓ people would expect. Justin biggest surprise, biggest disappointment for the bolts. Yeah, I think you're going, mean, Dominic James, probably your biggest surprise. ⁓ he looked like the most engaged player out there. ⁓ he played with speed. ⁓ we mentioned, know, Jared mentioned earlier, the pace of the, that the series was at and James was one of those few. Lightning forwards had actually played a little bit of pace. was effective. thought, I thought his line was probably the best line. Um, especially over the, know, I'd say the last three games or so for the lightning. Um, so bodes well for the lightning, I guess, you know, you got a nice young forward there, a nice young center that plays a lot of pace. Um, you know, attacked the net. He, drove to the net, which a lot of the lightning forwards did, you know, they loved that little get into the zone, then curl back. You know, James just went straight to the net a few times and it created some chances with him and, Gage Consolves on that line. ⁓ so yeah, I guess I'm to put him down as my biggest surprise. Hopefully he can carry that over. So, then biggest disappointment, I hate to keep piling on the guy, but I think when you're the best player in the league, ⁓ Nikita Kucherov, know, you got to find a way to score more than, you know, a goal. ⁓ I thought he played kind of Kucherov-esque, you know, there were some times he looked dangerous out there, but for the most part, Montreal shot him down. You know, he ended up with six points, seven games, which is fine for most players. But again, when you're, you know, a heart candidate, when you're a Lindsay candidate, you got to be better. You just got to find a way to adjust your game. don't think he made too many adjustments. I think he got frustrated early in a lot of games and like, fans have seen that in, know, throughout his career, if you can frustrate him early, a lot of times you can take him out of his game and he starts trying some riskier passes. He had a bunch of, you know, he's always going to have turnovers. Yes. But I thought he had more than his fair share. ⁓ especially in game seven, I don't think he had a very good game seven at all. ⁓ so that's kind of the biggest disappointment. And then you couple that with Brady point, not getting anything done either. So those top two players not being able to find the back of the net really hurt the lightning in this series. In a series where there's a slew of overtime games, every game was a one goal game. I'm going to ask you both a question and. I don't know if there's a right answer or a wrong answer, but what was the turning point in this series? Jerry, I'm going to start with you. What was the turning point for both teams? Because this series you had gained to the, mentioned Kirby doc made a defensive lapse. JJ Moser scores. The series is tied to one. It's a whole new series. Then if Montreal goes up to nothing in the series, you had the max Crozier hit on Slavkowski, which Justin and I said, Is it a game changing hit or is it a series changing hit? Jarrett, what was the turning point for you in this series? Yeah, I think there's two different ones for both teams, I think. Honestly, I think for Tampa, the turning point was probably not coming out of the way with game five. I think that that, you know, gave Montreal a little momentum, especially after the way game four went. You mentioned the Slavkovski hit and Maricelui said, he said, you know, it's only It's a series defining if you make it one. And the fact that they came out in game five came back from a couple of softer goals on Dobish and pulled that out. For Montreal, I think the turning point of the series was literally how they came out in the third period of game seven. After that second period, it could have gone two ways. They could have been, what was us, ⁓ continued down that path of not doing anything. Or play a very solid third period and they played a very solid third period. didn't get necessarily the shots on goal necessarily that you would Like but you know Danny Chels counting them differently and they got a tan step in that that's what he is but I think eight shots in that third period is Exceptional for the situation they were in I mean Tampa Bay was fighting for their life for the last what eight minutes seven and a half minutes of that game And they only get in game five, they got what, 10 in the last three minutes? So getting eight in the third period when you're defending a lead for eight and a half minutes, I think that third period was a turning point for Montreal because it really could have gone either way. They could have let that second period affect them or they could have come out stronger in the third and they did. Justin? Yeah, definitely agree. You know, game five for me, ⁓ was the turning point in the entire series for both teams. Lightning win that one. They just came out so flat, you know, even if they played a better first period and still lost, I just thought, they just played so bad in that game. It was so frustrating, honestly. ⁓ that gave Montreal, like Jared said, the confidence that, Hey, yeah, we're coming off this, this game for loss, but when we came back, we beat, the Lightning in their house. They actually gave Montreal two chances to, to win the series and they were able to do it on the second one. ⁓ also thought the first game, I know I mentioned this on the last podcast. thought the way Montreal played in the first game, know, they didn't get rattled by the lightning trying to push the physical ⁓ edge in that game. They, they won that game. The power play came through, put a lot of doubt in the lightning mine, I think. And then they were playing with house money, you you figure for the next two, two games, you win the one on the road. So what if you lose game two, you're still going back even now you could focus on game three and game four. So yeah, I thought those are two turning points. Uh, definitely. I don't know, man, just, uh, the light and not being able to get it done when they needed to. Um, we watched them come back all, all year long, you know, either trailing or tied in the third period that they found a way to win a lot of games and they just couldn't do it in this, um, postseason, especially game seven. Um, you have a performance where you limit a team to under 10 shots, you know, in Gerritsch, right? It was kind of a conservative shot counter in the building that night. I thought they had a few more maybe on net, but still, you know, even if it's 15 shots, you know, in a game seven, you hold somebody under 20 shots for God's sakes. You're you have a great defensive performance and then you just couldn't capitalize offensively on it. So, you know, a lot of stuff for the Lightning to learn in this series, move forward. It sounds like they're bringing the whole team back. So it'll be interesting to see how it goes from here. half the team has no movement clauses, so they're forced to a little bit, but let's talk about the coaching. Martin St. Louis does not have a ton of playoff experience as a head coach has a lot as a player. John Cooper, multiple Stanley cups under his belt. Who won the battle behind the bench? Justin, let's start with you. Um, I mean, I guess you got to give it to the guy who won the series. Why do you say Lily? You you tinkered with that third line a little bit. I think that helped up. Um, and even though like they didn't score when he moved a Slavkovsky off of that top line, it did give the lighting a little bit more to think about. ⁓ defensively for the last couple of games. ⁓ so that kind of helped out. think Cooper did well with the hand he was played, ⁓ not having Holmberg for the start of that series, I think really shook them up more than he thought about because that. Gergensen scored a Holmberg line was his go-to line. That was his security blanket. ⁓ when things were going bad, ⁓ when they'd given up a goal, that was the line he threw out there. And I think it took him a couple of games to figure out, ⁓ how to deal with that, you know, when he finally put the James Gonsalves line together, I that helped out a little bit. Cause the Cirelli line was busy dealing with the top guys and you kind of needed that, that security blanket that could match up against the bottom six. mean, did he ever find it? Not really. So I'll give the edge to Marty in this one. I thought he had a really good series. We talked about it after game one that time out, he took a minute into overtime. I thought that was a really great move that he made to help keep the pressure on. So little things like that. I'll give him the slight edge in the series. Jarrett, your thoughts. Yeah, I think from a tactical perspective, Cooper had the series played the way he wanted it to be played. ⁓ And I think Munchall adjusted to that and played well, obviously, and they were able to deal with that. Let's be honest, that was not the pace Munchall would have wanted to play for the entire series. And I think Cooper did a good job of making that the style of play in the series. ⁓ I do think that he, from an outsider's perspective, there was a little bit of like, I don't want to say panic, but he played like he didn't have the best team in the series. Like he played like an underdog would have, ⁓ whether it was putting in Sabarin or ⁓ little things that he did throughout the series. I think it was a pretty even coaching matchup. And I think that that's a testament to St. Louis. And I think that that kind of gives Montreal the edge a little bit because a lot of people would have expected Cooper to have the edge in that series. ⁓ And Marte St. Louis like went toe to toe with him. from a coaching perspective. And I think that that's in the lump on him and his growth as a coach ⁓ in this series. the fact that it's even a discussion of which coach was better ⁓ is a testament to the St. Louis because I think, you're not going to find anybody who ⁓ thinks that John Cooper is a bad coach or didn't do a good job. There's all the Canadian fans who are annoyed by the tactics a little bit. ⁓ but I think that, you know, it's, it was a good coaching matchup and I think, yes, and then we got a little bit of the edge, but from a tactical perspective, I mean, the, the, the, the series was played the way John Cooper wanted it to be played. ⁓ so I think from, if you look at that way, ⁓ he did a pretty good job too. were a couple of veterans in the press box at the beginning of the series that made an impact in this series. Well, for Montreal, did for Tampa. never saw the ice. Brendan Gallagher. enters the lineup in game five. What did he bring to the Canadians lineup that they were lacking in the first four? I think just Brendan Gallagher spent played his entire career bringing people into the fight. So people are looking forward and a two goal lead. So Kovsky get hit really hard. They lose all sorts of momentum in that late in that game and game five. He just brings a fresher outlook, right? He wasn't part of that game for. What does he have to be down about? Then he goes and scored the first goal in in game five. And I think that that's just who he is. ⁓ He's at a point in his career now where he probably can't play every day in the playoffs and keep up the pace in today's game, ⁓ which is fine. But that's what he can bring. can bring that energy. He can bring that kind of let's go guys. Even if he's not playing, he still brings that. But I think that him in the lineup was a little bit of a... ⁓ You know, kind of personified what he brings. It's all just off the ice was on the ice as well. And him scoring that first goal in game five was just telling of what he can bring to this too. Justin Victor Headman was in the press box for Tampa. He was working out trying to get back into the lineup. I know he was on his own time table. If Tampa has a healthy Victor Headman, do they win this series? It's hard to say. Um, I mean, like the defense wasn't their problem. Like the blue line wasn't the light needs problem. think getting the Stu back was actually more of a help to them because he's more of a puck carrier than Headman is now that is his career. Does he bring a little bit more of that stable leadership? Um, I've been here, I've been through these wars before kind of, uh, presence to the team probably, but they still had, they had that in spades, honestly. I mean, he still had the core of those Stanley Cup teams sitting there. So it's not like they lacked for leadership on the ice. is it a different series? Possibly. you know, it was such a series defined by such slim margins, maybe having, you know, a former, you know, Norris trophy winning gold, you know, defender in there does make the difference. But I think this new coming back was a bigger help. ⁓ but it's interesting that the Jerob talked about Gallagher and I think St. Louis realizing that the pace of this series wasn't, you know, breakneck speed. Made it perfect for bringing somebody like Gallagher in, you know, he could handle the pace that they were played at. And this guy's been tormenting the lightning in the playoffs since 2014 for God's sake. So, you know, ⁓ it's been over a decade that that man's been scoring big goals against them. ⁓ so yeah, it's, you know, that was a really nice move. And like Jared spoke to, I think it did boost them a little bit. You you bring in the guy that's been been through it before and helps that bottom six, you know, which proved to be the difference in this mashup, think, cause the top two lines. And their lack of production kind of canceled each other out a little bit. So, you know, they they got the, the, the play out of the Tessier line and then Gallagher scored that big goal in game five. So I don't think the Lightning had anybody like that in the press box that they could bring in. You know, they tried Connor Gicke a couple of times. They tried, you know, sovereign when they were trying to be the big bullies in the series and it didn't work out for them when they did get down to playing actual hockey and, trying that their best to play with speed, you know, they played a little bit better, but, ⁓ yeah, I don't think having really made a difference. ⁓ you know, it sounded like. He, he probably could have gone for game seven, but I don't think Cooper wanted to really upset the way they had played in game six, you know? Um, so, you know, definitely if they'd made it to round two, it sounds like he would have been playing. He was pretty close. He mentioned that in his, um, exit interview that he felt really good. You know, he's back where he needed to be in his mental head space. Um, so he was looking forward to getting into the game, but, uh, I think the timing just didn't quite work out for him to come back in the series. To conclude our crossfire segment, I have a question here. It's a little bit of a loaded question for each fan base. Is Montreal ahead of schedule a little bit and ready to contend for Stanley cups or is Tampa an aged contender? Justin. ⁓ mean, Montreal is here. They're, I think they're on schedule. You can say they're ahead of schedule, but you know, You got to take the opportunities when they present themselves. So I think they're right where they need to be. ⁓ as far as Tampa, it's hard to say, can they win with the style that they play? Yes. They have enough talent to do it, but it's a, is it a style that's sustainable in today's NHL? That's the big question. You know, they went out, they made all the changes that they made to compete with the Florida Panthers of the world, even like the Colorado Avalanche and the Vegas Golden Knights. I mean, that's the style of play they wanted the big physical guys. Kind of grind these games out. mean, if you watch like the lightning offense, it's get the puck in, work it behind the boards, work it back behind the boards, get it to the point, get a shot off, get the rebound, try it again. You know, it's not fly into the zone, two passes and a shot on goal. Um, which I think there's a way kind of the NHL is evolving right now. So it's going be interesting to see how they do moving forward. You know, Bruce Watt talked about, he's going to, he liked the way his team played and, and, you know, he did get 106 points playing this way. So it's not like it's. They struggled to make it into the playoffs and they're fading. They're not getting any younger. That's for sure. So we'll see. think maybe they get one more year with this core and then the big questions have to be asked, especially with Kuturov being a free agent next year. So I think Montreal is right where they need to be. And Tampa is teetering on the brink right now. I don't think they're quite out of it, but they're, they're getting close to the edge. Jared. Yeah, I don't think, you know, I had a schedule. I if they make like the final this year, then yeah, that's probably ahead of schedule. I think that last year they were maybe more ahead of schedule. I think this year is the year everyone expected them to be a playoff team and obviously because of last year again, there's still holes on the roster. But if you look at the East, mean, Buffalo is going to be a tough series. They swept the season series I think against Carolina or at played very well against them, especially down the stretch. of a couple of big wins against them. So I mean, if that's the match that you're looking at, then they can get back to the final if they play their game. That would be, like I said, ahead of schedule. I mean, this is always going be a tough series for both teams. I think in a more regular playoff format, both would probably be in round two, or at least expect to be in round two. And so obviously, one team had to be eliminated. yeah, I think that it's There is a changing of the guard, I mean next year, mean, know, Florida's probably gonna be back in the mix. I don't necessarily think Toronto's gonna be in there, but Ottawa's gonna be there, Detroit's gonna be battling again. So it's gonna be another year where the teams that don't make the playoffs in the Atlantic are gonna be very disappointed they don't make the playoffs in the Atlantic. So it's gonna be a little bit interesting, but I mean, yeah, I think once y'all... has established themselves. They've been there now playing out play in the playoffs two years in a row. Kent Hughes still has some things up his sleeve to improve the holes in this lineup even more. He had no adopts in last offseason. This season, you're probably going to look at a top six forward if I had to guess. So I think that their core is locked in. They're not going anywhere. I don't think this is the status schedule. I think they're right on schedule, but depending on how many more steps they take this year. that that obviously changed that. But ⁓ I think getting through round one is a success for them, regardless of what happens in Buffalo. You know, obviously they get swept, probably wouldn't be ideal. ⁓ But getting to round two is a good spot to be where they are. They got that game seven experience ⁓ and move forward from there. Final question for the both of you first for Jarrett. If Montreal is able to get past Buffalo. How do they match up against Carolina, assuming that it's Carolina who has a two-nothing lead against Philly? Yeah, I think they match up pretty well. Carolina is not a bad team by any stretch, obviously. But it's just, it's one of those things where, you know, down the stretch they had played them twice and they beat them twice. And I think that that's a matchup that I think can go well for them in certain ways. Like Carolina gets a lot of traffic on net, but you saw what Dobrish can do. Like he... He's not going to let in a lot of soft goals necessarily. So I don't think the shot volume really affects them. when Montreal gets through Buffalo, that means that he adjusts to the speed. They're back to playing up tempo hockey like they can. And I think that that means that that matches up well against Carolina. I think that they can do that. You know, just like what Ottawa did to them. Ottawa played well and just couldn't get goals and they got good goaltending. I think Montreal can be at their best, a better version of that. They obviously have more finishers than Ottawa does. So I think that they match up pretty well against Carolina and Philadelphia to be honest, if that's what they do. But obviously you have to get through Buffalo first, but I don't think it's that out of the question for them. Justin, the Lightning have a slew of players with no movement clauses. Tell me one off season change you could see the Lightning making. ⁓ know, all no movement clauses are is just an extra conversation with player, right? You know, I don't think they're the end all be all that, that fans sometimes make them out to be, you know, we've seen plenty of those, ⁓ waved, ⁓ for moves. ⁓ again, I'm kind of just looking at maybe somewhere in that Nick Paul category, you know, I think he's a very good player. He's the, you know, off year with injuries and stuff. I think he can offer another franchise that that steadiness in a center. And with the way Nick or Dominic James played this year, you kind of have that. Yeah. Ready to go middle, middle of the lineup kind of center that can play offense and defense as well. So if the lighting do need to free up that cap space, um, could see Nick Paul going somewhere. Um, you know, they're big question. I think they're a whole center there a whole summer revolves around what do you do with Darren Radish? Um, do you give him the big money contract that he's probably going to get from somebody, right? Um, you look at that free agent class. It's not great. Um, thanks to everybody signing their contracts already. So. You know, they're, they've talked with him over the second half of the season, at least with his representation. they're, they're trying to come up with a plan to keep him around without eating up all of their cap. think they have, I was just looking at it this morning. It's like 13 million or something with the cap going up. So they have some room to sign some people, but I don't think they make a lot of changes. If they do, think you hear a CSUN, some guys internally, like maybe you give Connor Gicke the, the third line wing and say, Hey, you're going to play up with us all year long. You know, you can make mistakes and we're not going to kick you out of the lineup and kind of same thing with, ⁓ Jacob, ⁓ Jacob, ⁓ Palatial. So we'll see, we'll see how it all goes. ⁓ I know fans are gonna want them to blow it up and start all over, but that's probably not a reality in today's NHL. So if anybody goes, my money's on Nick Paul. Jared, tell everyone about Habs eyes on the price. Yeah. I mean, ⁓ it's, ⁓ covers the Canadians covers the rocket. PWHL as well. All three teams are in the playoffs right now as we speak anyway. Yeah, you're a busy camper right now. There's like, there's no break either. The series are scattered too and there's no rest. It's playoff hockey after playoff hockey. There was a triple overtime PWHL game like two days ago and they play again today and there was game one. was just a lot of hockey. But yeah, we're covering all of it. ⁓ following the Buffalo series, following the rocket, they have a game five on. on Saturday and the Victor have a very key back to back in their best of five series starting on Thursday night tonight. it'll be interesting, but yeah, we got it all covered and off season coming up, draft stuff coming up, all that good stuff. Hoping to delay it a little bit longer, but for now, but yeah, just if you want to know what's going on from a nutshell perspective, that's the place to go. It's not fair. get to cover playoffs and the first round draft pick. I mean, what's that like, man? For now. We've done that in the lighting for now. charge forever. I mean, last year they had two back-to-back picks and they didn't end up using them. Yeah. Exactly. So yeah. I think there's a lot of fans that would actually rather them not have the pick because that means something interesting happened. Exactly. Yeah. At least they have them for now. That's great. That'll be interesting. Justin, tell everyone what's going on over at Raw Charge. Pretty much the same, except without all that playoff stuff. ⁓ We'll start talking about, we're working on the exit interviews right now. Lightning dropped those yesterday, so we're kind of working our way through them. We talked about Victor Hetman and his reason for not being with the team yesterday. I got some stuff on Anthony Cirelli that we're working on. The Zulki nomination. We'll talk about his season and what his future looks like with the team. But yeah, that's kind of it. We'll... We do the lightning do have a decent second round pick. you know, they could actually bring some talent in if, if BreezeBlood decides to hold on to it, but which is never given with him. ⁓ but yeah, we'll, we'll keep things going through this, ⁓ early start to the summer, but, ⁓ everything will be at rawcharge.com. Hey guys, thanks for joining us. Really appreciate the insight on the Montreal and the Tampa series. can read Jared and his team at Habs eyes on the prize.com H A B S. E Y E S on the prize.com. You could read Justin each and every day at www.rawcharge.com. I'm Jason. Thank you for joining us today. And as always, Jared's are to say this, but go bolts. Go bolts. Thank you for listening to back checking the bolts. We are free and available on all platforms, including Apple, Spotify, I heart radio, Amazon, YouTube, and Deezer. If you enjoyed it, please be sure to subscribe and leave a review. You can follow Justin on blue sky at raw charge.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.