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Tampa Bay Lightning 8-0 at Home! Kucherov Saga Update & 4-Game Road Trip Preview · Backchecking the Bolts

• Tampa Bay Lightning 8 0 at Home! Kucherov Saga Update & 4 Game Road Trip Preview: Coming up, I'm Backchecking the Bolts.. Hit the road, four game road trip. Starts in Minnesota on Saturday. They head up to Winnipeg on Sunday, followed by games against Columbus and Buffalo. It's going to be a tough road swing. You got three teams that are really playing well. Winnipeg, which had lost nine in a row. They had their miracle comeback against Montreal and then put a really nice effort in last night against the Vancouver Canucks. This is going to be a tough test. Welcome to Backchecking the Bolts.. Backchecking the Bolts. is your cup of coffee to get you the latest on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Join hosts Jason Linkes. 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 another episode of Backchecking the Bolts.. The Lightning are a perfect eight and at home. Back-to-back home wins against Detroit. They beat them four to two on Tuesday. And last night, which was Thursday, they beat the Chicago Blackhawks by a score of four to one. We're gonna break down those games. We're also gonna take a look at the four-game road trip ahead. Justin's eighty-four bets in eighty-four games. Justin went one and one at the betting window. And we're going to give you the latest on the Nikita Kucherov saga and just how happy is Andrei Vasilevskiy in Tampa. Now it's time to bring in the managing editor of Raw Charge. You can read him each and every day at www.rawcharge.com. Justin, other than your Baltimore Ravens not really having a quarterback yesterday, the Lightning definitely were in control these last two games. They really got off the strong starts. It's one of the things that we talked about going into the season. Last year, they were repeatedly down one two nothing the back half of the year. This year, Justin, it's been a lot of really strong starts and it's given them a lot of control in these games. It's a big reason why they're eight and no at home. Yeah, and you know, that little recent stretch, they've really kind of needed those leads, because they've done a pretty darn good job of of almost blowing some of them. I thought yeah, I thought the Detroit period was that first period against Detroit was probably the best period they've played all season long. And then against Chicago they came out almost a similar type of game where they they start pretty strong, put a couple goals up on the board, get that all important third goal to go up three nothing. And they did a much better job in Chicago against Chicago shutting that things down in the third period than they did against Detroit. I don't think anybody was really happy. with the way they finished the game against Detroit. I was riding down in the elevator and there was a couple of Lightning guys there and they were grumbling a little bit about the way they played the back half of the game. So it was interesting. It was good they still pulled it out. They they did what they had to do to get the two points and in a division game. That's what's important. But yeah, they cleaned things up a little bit against Chicago, who is not a very good team. let's be blunt, despite all their offensive po prowess that they're supposed to have, they just can't score. And the Lightning were more than happy to help them. continued not to score. so it was it was a good little homestand. it's a challenging road trip coming up. It's yeah you'll talk about it later, but this is could be one of their tougher road trips of the season. but yeah so hey two games two wins can't ask for anything else. Justin going into this quick two game homestand you're facing Detroit you're facing Chicago you're saying hey let's get four points out of this and they did exactly that. In the Detroit game you talked about the strong start. Midway through the game, the shot attempts were fifty to twelve in favor of the Lightning. What did they do early in that game that gave Detroit fits? I was just their transition game was was on point. I mean, think Detroit had something like twenty seconds of possession time in the first period in the offensive zone. the Lightning were getting the puck, Detroit would dump it in, the Lightning would get the puck and would be right out of the zone and they'd be flying through the neutral zone. I thought Detroit was really bad at trying to slow them down. in the neutral zone. They played off of way too much. They gave just too much space. And Tampa's a team that you can't give space to. or they'll do what they did to Detroit and they'll just eat alive. Gibson was really good in the first period. He got hurt towards the end of it. So that was a shame. The Lightning just had plenty of space. I mean, Kucherov was a a whirling dervish in the offensive zone. I'm surprised he didn't have like a four or five point game, to tell you the truth. He was really, really good against Detroit. They got the puck to point in the middle of the ice. He had some space to shoot, which you don't always see, especially on the power play. And he converted, which was nice for a point, you know, kind of get him back rolling in the goals goal scoring category anyway. So yeah, he's been putting up points all year, it just hasn't been scoring. so yeah, they kinda had that confidence. They played that I think that's a big thing too, is they played with a lot of confidence against Detroit. and they just made the plays they had to make, kept it in the Detroit zone almost the entire period and just didn't give Detroit a chance to to break it out. The fore check was good. The neutral zone they dominated. And like I said, once they got the puck, it was it was quick passes. It was accurate passes and and they were in the zone doing their thing. I thought Point's goal in the middle of the slot on the power play was sort of typical Brayden Point. I mean, first of all, that was a great pass by Kucherov. He froze the defense with that fake shot and got it to point right in the slot. He didn't get all of it. But he got enough of it to get it past Gibson. The second goal I thought was Brayden Point just being a goal scorer, just finding that little seam, getting the shot off through traffic and getting the goal. We talked about be at the beginning of the season that they needed Hedman in point to going back to being Hedman in point that we knew in years past. Are you seeing that in his game right now? I I think we've kind of seen it all season long. Cooper talked about in the pro postgame. He's had a ton of chances this year. goaltenders have made some great saves on him. He's hit the post a couple of times. so I think he had two goals going into the game. And but he had scored the night before. He had or the game before in Utah. And that kind of that was a vintage point goal. This is the one where Kucherov set the record for franchise points. and it was kind of one of those goals where yeah it's a great pass from Kucherov but points in front of the net. You he's not the biggest guy but he's he's got that ability to find those soft spots and get his stick free to score. And we saw that against Detroit as well. So he's he's played really well this year. I know the the goals hadn't been coming as easily as some had hoped. I mean he's almost a point a game this year. I think he's just below a point a game. Goal scorers score in bunches. Yeah. And exactly. Yeah, now that he's hot, now that he's got a couple, you know, in the back of the net, he it could be one of where he goes on a run where he scores seven or eight over the next ten games. So yeah, he's kind of been where he needs to be. the power play is is slowly getting itself back together. They're they're scoring on the power play, which is really nice. they're not putting them up in bunches, but they are getting one here, one there. So yeah, it's he's been where he needs to be. Justin, we talked about the Lightning letting off the gas a little bit, and I don't know if that happened or Detroit just found their game, but the third period that there wasn't a whole lot of five on five play. There was a lot of Detroit pulling their goalie for three minutes, power play time. What was your assessment of the third period and what Did Detroit do that gave Tampa some trouble? I started in, I would say probably about middle of the second period. the Lightning just weren't as crisp as they were. Detroit did come out and kind of battle a little bit harder. They they did start to clog up the neutral zone and kind of stop that transition game. And then the Lightning had some defensive miskews. They their coverage wasn't very great in the defensive zone. I think if you look at some of the underlying stats. Yeah, Lightning only gave up two goals, but Detroit missed a ton of I wanna say easy chances, but good looks at the net. there were three or four at the end of the right at the end of the second period, I believe it was, Michael Branzeg Nygaard had basically an open net. And it would have been interesting to see if it counted 'cause there's about one second left on the clock and he just pushed it wide. I mean, th it was a slam dunk goal. And there were some others that were in really good position. And they just fired it wide. they missed the net a ton. Detroit did. So the Lightning were giving up those chances, and part of it was just defensive breakdowns. their their coverage in the zone wasn't very good. And Detroit's got some scorers on the team. An inch here, an inch there, and it's maybe four three Detroit. So just kind of a little breakdown in coverage. It happens from time to time, especially when you're rolling seven defensemen a lot and you're switching up your pairings. sometimes you get out of out of rhythm a little bit and the Lightning just couldn't clear the puck and then got caught chasing a little bit. Well, now let's head over to the Chicago game. The Bolts. with a four-one victory. Chicago didn't score until the waning seconds of the game. But this was the Ilya Mikheyev revenge game. Two goals for the former Blackhawk on the second goal, just a phenomenal pass by Eric Cherdak. It was just a slam dunk into the net. What did you see out of Mikhayev's game? Everyone liked it because of the two goals, but what did you see in his game and how is his game progressed? since game one in Tampa. Do you think he's getting a little bit more acclimated to Cooper and the system? I think so. I think he's had a gr a good season all around. The goals haven't always been there, but he's part of that line with Pontus Holmberg and, you know, Girgenson's was back last night after missing a few games with an injury. they're just a really good team at generating chances. And Mikheyev, you know, he plays that net front presence. He's a bigger guy. he can get to the front of the net, which he did on that second goal. you know, he just kind of goes to the nets. Cernak makes really nice play to to get around the defenseman and slide the puck in. the first goal, again it was a give and go with Cernak. these two are hooking up a little bit here. Cernak hits him on the, on the entry pass, and then Cernak drives to the net, which pushes the defender back, and Mikheyev just kind of follows him in a little bit, takes a stride or two, and then it's just a really nice shot around a defenseman. you know, if you're the goalie, if you're Arvid Soderbloom, you probably want that back. I mean, you don't usually get beat five hole from the top of the circle, but the lot of bodies to look through. Exactly. And and the way he have kind of wrapped the shot around the defenseman, it was hard to see it coming. So he's got those offensive skills. I think they mentioned in the broadcast he put up thirty eight goals in two seasons with Chicago. So he's got that innate scoring talent, which really helps on that line where you got Girgenson's flying around. I thought Girgenson's had a fantastic game. And I wanted to ask you, he's you know, he's back in the lineup. How did he look? He looked great. I think his move back to the center position this year has really rejuvenated his game. He was he was literally flying around the ice. I think he had six shot attempts, if I remember, and then three of those are scoring chances. he had a he had a great scoring chance twenty seconds into the game. He comes down off the wing, drives a net, and puts a shot right on Soderbloom. and it generates a rebound. That's another thing with with Girgensons his he's got a heavy shot. He doesn't probably use it as much as he needs, but he creates a lot of rebounds when he shoots the puck. And You Mikheyev's there to clean things up and then you got Holmberg just, put the puck on his stick and he could probably skate around for 45 minutes with it and nobody can knock him off of it. So, that's just a really good energy line that that sucks up a lot of that offensive zone time and sets up the other lines, for good positionings when they when they do switch off. So Mikav's looked really good. I I think he's he is getting more comfortable with the system. He's been great on the penalty kill as well. So that was just a really nice, savvy little move by Julian BriseBois to bring him in. Well, I want to talk about a great move that we saw on the second Lightning goal. It was Victor Hedman not only scoring the goal, but jumping in on the play. And really what caught my eye was the speed that he had. Once he got just inside the red line, his he was able to use his speed to split both Chicago defenders. That was vintage Victor Hedman right there. You really saw that offensive ability. You saw that speed. Justin, I like so far what I've seen out of Hedman. I like the way his games progressed. What is your thought and tell us a little bit about him scoring on the power play for the first time in quite some time? Yes, quite some it was April of twenty twenty five or something like that. he struggled last yeah, last year was a loss season for him and then he starts this year. he actually played about two minutes of power play time in the season opening game against Detroit, but I think everybody had about two minutes since they had seven penal power plays or something like that. Since then he hasn't been on the power play at all. I think his season total is somewhere around three minutes or so. And you figure it's actually a little bit over that. two two of those minutes came against the Rangers and then a minute and ten seconds was last night. the Lightning did change up their power play unit. they put Karlsson with D'Astous on the first, to try and get that right handed shot. so Hedman was kind of quarterback in the second power play unit. And like you said, that was a really strong move from him. And I think you're gonna see that in, you know, kind of small bursts. Like, I don't think he could do that for twenty minutes a night like he used to be able to. it's just so many minutes on his legs and stuff like that. But he's starting to learn how to play. Kinda that, hey, this is where I need to step it up a notch and and and bring it out. And you saw it on the power play goal. so it was really nice to see. You know, big a lot of talk about how he's much leaner this year. I think he dropped something like sixteen to twenty pounds, to kind of take some of that wear and tear off off of the lower body. And he's been playing pretty well, pretty steady. You see these flashes of the old Hedman. And like I said, I don't think you're going to see it for 20 minutes a night anymore. but he still knows when to do it most of the time. because it's kind of funny. He kind of tried a similar play in the neutral zone later in the game and it didn't go so well. I think Ryan Donato picked off the pass and and fed it up to I forget who it was, but they they snapped off a pretty good shot that that Vasilevsky saved. But you know. Hedman's always been a bit of a gambler offensively. Most of the times it pays off, but every once in a while it's like, oops. Probably should have made sure that pass went through first. moving forward, I think the Lightning are going to stay with this eleven seven, even with Gordon coming back, just because it does give their older defensemen, you know, a little bit more even playing time, and Hedman's a big beneficiary of that. Now you mentioned them staying with the the eleven seven. They sent Dominic James back to Syracuse. Do you think that's a sign that The eleven seven, at least for the short term, is here to stay? probably. They are anticipating getting Gourde back. They got Girgensons back who'd been hurt. There's some talk that they want to save a little bit of of cap room. so that's why they sent James down, you know, despite the fact they still had a game and really only had eleven healthy defensemen. Or f nah, excuse me, eleven healthy forwards. So but yeah, I I I think he likes He likes that this year. It's not something he's always liked to do. John Cooper, that is. But I think with the age of the defenseman and the way they've all been playing, you kind of want to keep that rotation going a little bit. And it does really help him on that fourth line too, which has been pretty much Geekie Jeff Viel. And then, you know, he rotates through the forward. Gage Goncalves has been getting a lot of time. Brandon Hagel, Jake Guentzel were down there last night and the game before. So gives him a chance to mix up that fourth line a little bit, get some extra playing time for for whoever's hot that night. So I think I think you're here to see it stay, especially on the road. You may see twelve six at home, when he's got control of the matchups a little bit more. But it will be interesting to see what happens when Gourde is back. Justin, you talked about it in the Detroit game. The third period wasn't their best. They had some coverage issues on defense, but in the third period against Chicago That was probably one of their better sixty minute efforts all game. Is that what you were seeing in out of that Lightning defense? Yeah, they didn't really have the breakdowns. One thing with Chicago is they got so much speed up front. You worry about that with with the Lightning defense and you just didn't really see the breakaways. aside from the one I mentioned where where, you know, Hedman turned the puck over. You didn't see the forwards really get behind the Lightning D too much. They did a really good job preventing that in the neutral zone, clogging things up. It was I mean, the first period was fine. It was a Nice flow to the game, but the second and third periods were an absolute grind. the Lightning, must have iced the puck fifteen times. it just seemed like there was a whistle every every you know, fifteen, twenty seconds, which Well Chicago couldn't win a face off. So it didn't it didn't hurt Yeah, it didn't hurt him. And I think that was kind of part of the game plan. They're like, hey, we know we could win these draws, so let's, you know, if we need to, don't hesitate to fire it down the ice. It's not a successful game plan moving forward. you are facing one of the few teams that's worse than you in the face off circle. but for that game it was it wasn't a bad way to go it, but it did make for some tedious watching, but it did break up any flow Chicago ever got as well. You you look at that roster and you're like, How how can this team not score? But it's surprised you watch a game you watch the game, they do get they get absolutely no presence in the middle of the ice from the dangerous areas. the Lightning did a great job of of pushing people away, protecting Vasilevsky. It's kind of a shame that, you know, they scored the way they did, with Kancerov, kind of putting one in after you know, Desttoop makes a really nice play to clear out the player in front of him, but he falls down and I think he kinda gets in Vasilevsky's way and then the puck is deflected in front of him past him. So, you know, whenever give up a a goal with forty eight seconds left to go to ruin a shutout, you know, you feel kind of bad. But Overall, I I thought it was a pretty good sixty sixty minute effort. It wasn't a you you're not gonna hang that game in the Louvre or the Tampa Museum of Art or anything. but you got the two points. you're kind of probably looking ahead to your your road trip a little bit, so you didn't, you know, didn't play down to the competition. You got the three goal lead, made it a four goal lead and and just kind of put the pressure on when you needed to. So it's exactly what the Lightning needed to do. They picked up the two points and they can move on. Justin, before we talk about the road trip, let's talk about your eighty-four bets in eighty-four games. And Justin, when you and I are sitting at the Westgate in Las Vegas, I always tell you, don't bet parlays. But right now you love You love betting those parlays. Against Detroit, you were a winner. You had the Lightning to win in under six and a half. With Detroit pulling the goalie, you were you're you you were stressing there a little bit, but you got the win. Yeah, you never like it when it's three to two, right? 'cause you're worried about two empty netters now. Exactly. Because teams will keep doing it. Yeah. The the team score and tying it up and you're you're done, right? You know, so yeah. But yeah, it was it was the empty netter. It was a six you know, under six and a half and a Lightning win. I did think Detroit was gonna keep it close and I thought the Lightning were gonna really focus on a defensive effort. they went about it in a kind of different way than I thought, you know, just by keeping the puck the whole time. but Yeah, so that's why I was leaning under on that one, despite, Detroit not being a great team. And then against Chicago, Justin basically took everyone in the world to have over a one and a half shots, Mikhayev Kucherov and Frank Nazar. That did not come through to you. So Justin's gonna be putting his bets in on Saturday and Sunday when the Bolts. hit the road for a four game road trip. I would like to point out that technically I Didn Frank Nazar did have two shots. It just happened that one of them came from a stick that was somewhere in the rafters and got waved off because of a he actually scored a goal, but it got waved off because of he didn't waved off. So technically, technically he had two shots, but it's if they if they count that shot, do you win the bet? I would imagine, right? It's a tip. Yeah, I I that's yeah, 'cause I I Mikheyev was over too. I thought Kucherov was. Yeah, but no, I had a feeling Mikhailov was gonna have a pretty good game. You always look at the guys playing against their former teams, want to make a point. and then with Girgenson's coming back, I thought, you know, that line was gonna do pretty good. Cooch is just in one of, you know, Kucherov, I don't did he have a point last night? I don't think he had a point last night, but he played really well. And I just want to point out that, you know, anyone who thinks he's quitting on this team, there was a play in the third period. Lightning are up for nothing. Puck's down in the Chicago zone, and he is absolutely battling on the forecheck. I think he ends up diving after a puck or something like that. And was like anybody who's worried about this guy Quittin on the team is just delusional. he's he's playing hard. He's playing he's playing well, he's playing hard. Yeah, part of it is probably he wants to, show BriseBois what he's gonna be missing, you know, moving forward. But it's also just his pure nature is he's not gonna stop playing hockey just because he doesn't like the GM. so yeah, it was it was fun to see that. But I I think he's gonna have a you know a pretty good season this year. Justin There was some talk out there from Kucharov's agent that he had had some conversations with JBB. Give us the latest on what's being reported out there. Yeah, so Milsin jumped on I think it was the Daily Face Off podcast with Jeff Merrick and David Pignetta. Kind of talked about the whole situation. He talked about a lot of things. one of the things he mentioned is that he was in pretty constant contact with BriseBois over the summer. you've got to remember Mikhayev. is also a Milstein client. So, you know, they they arranged that deal. And and Milstein did mention that he's like, look, we could be fighting about one thing and then hang up the phone and five seconds later call him back and we're still fine. He has no problems with with Briezebois. He says they still have a great relationship. but one thing he did mention is he did confirm, you know, something that Kucherov said is that they basically only talked about his contract twice. Take that for what it's worth. He also said that both sides probably if they could go back would do things differently. So It does sound like whether it be trade or free agency, Kucherov is done. I think he said the relationships relationship is pretty much beyond repair right now. So there's still a long season to go. You never know what's gonna happen, but it does look like Kucherov is probably gonna play for a different team next year, which hey, you know, all things come to an end at some point. And you know, wish nothing but the best for the guy. Like I said, he's gonna have a great season. He's not gonna stop playing for this team. Millstein also really ripped into a report out in Montreal about some kind of rift between Kucherov and Hedman that had been reported. I mean, like you usually don't see somebody call people out by name, especially reporters, but Millstein was like, Look, I'm if I see any bad information out there, I'm gonna call it out, I'm gonna make mention of it. And they really ripped into it. You know, if everybody that the Lightning have talked about, you know, if all the players have said, Hey, this is our guy, he's our friend, he's our teammate for now, you know, business is business and and that's a What it in the day and this day and age. So I don't think any real new information came out of the interview if he did confirm a few things, but yeah, it just seems like, you know, for whatever reason, they weren't on the same page, the communication wasn't there, and I think at this point the money's gotten to the point where I don't think BriseBois wants to pay it. And even if he did offer the six years at twenty, I don't know if Gutrov takes it at this point. The only thing I'll say is time heals wounds. And championships. Yeah, championships help seal them as well. You have a good season, things can change. And right now, yes, it looks like it's beyond repair in regards to the relationship, but don't be surprised if something happens down the road. Again, these are grown men, they meet, they iron things out. Things happen like this from time to time. And it just wouldn't surprise me if they are able to make amends. Justin, the Bolts. hit the road four game road trip. Starts in Minnesota on Saturday. They head up to Winnipeg on Sunday, followed by games against Columbus and Buffalo. It's going to be a tough road swing. You got three teams that are really playing well. Winnipeg, which had lost nine in a row. They had their miracle comeback against Montreal and then put a really nice effort in last night against the Vancouver Canucks. This is going to be a really tough test, but let's talk real quick about Minnesota. They are the best team in the league in the Goals against average. This is gonna be a tough test for for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yeah, this weekend, I mean you're looking at two buildings where the Lightning just have not been able to win pretty much throughout the entire existence of their franchise. They're twenty one, twenty six, and three all time in Winnipeg. I I do believe that includes numbers against the Thrashers and the original Jets, since the league did give Winnipeg all their stats back, which is really nice. Well, wait a minute, am I doing that right? I don't know if I do the math right, but No, I don't they didn't give Winnipeg their their stats back from the 70s and 80s because that one was Phoenix. No, they gave it back to him this year. Because whoever the leading scorer was yeah, whoever the leading scorer was lost his leading scorer title. I think it I don't know if it's Chef Scheifele or not, but he had to regain it. Yeah. They did it this summer. wow. I think yeah, whatever organization starts in Arizona is gonna be a brand new organization. so yeah, they got the original stats back. Okay. But anyways, the the bigger number is that they're I think one six and one since two thousand and eighteen. they've lost the last five games up there, and they've given up a ton of goals. I think they've been outscored twenty-six to thirteen or something during that streak. So if you're looking at any early bets, I'd probably lean towards the over. But yeah, it's just could been kind of one of those buildings that the Lightning have struggled in, whether it's the time change just being way up in Winnipeg and not playing them very often, yeah. They just can't seem to win. Vassi's one of the few teams he has a losing record against too. And if we don't know how they're gonna go, if they go Hildeby first and then Vasi second, with the back to backs, but no matter which team he plays, it's gonna be a tough one for Vasi. It's you know Minnesota's another one where he's I think seven, seven and two or something like that against him. So technically has a losing record. And they're just gonna have to kind of find their defensive game. You know, the big problem on the road is that they haven't been able to keep the puck out of the net. So something that we saw a little bit better at home. The Detroit game again, not not great. Chicago, I thought they were pretty good with their coverages. So if they can carry that over into Winnipeg, it should help them out. You talked about their struggles against the Winnipeg Jets. Last year aside, the Winnipeg Jets over the last five years have been a pretty good team. They have a president's trophy. They had a run to the Western Conference Finals. So this isn't a team other than last year. This was a a pretty good hockey team. So Even though they've had their struggles, they were going up against a very good Winnipeg Jets team. The Minnesota Wild, hey, that central division, we've mentioned it before, that is a complete juggernaut because you have Dallas, Colorado, Minnesota, and Utah. You have four really good teams. One of those teams is going to be a wild card team and still have a legitimate chance of saying, Hey, we can contend for a Stanley Cup. What do you think they need to do against Minnesota against that tough defense? Is it just forechecking or is it just not taking chances in order to counteract what the wild do well? I mean that's it's kind of the fine line between the two, right? And I I think we saw when they played in Tampa, we we saw the game plan a little bit. It is is you gotta get that fore check going, but at the same time you can't you can't be sacrificing a defense for offense. So it's gonna be big on the defenseman to know when to pinch. When to play back. Quinn Hughes is always, you know, we've talked about it before. He's just a one-man breakout unit. He's he's one of these guys who can carry the puck the entire length of the ice and then put up a quality shot. they're starting to get some depth scoring out of there too. I know Jules Erickson Eck has had a you know a pretty strong recent run over this. I think there's what, 6-0 and one or 5-0 and one in their last six games. Erickson's got eight points, Kaprizov's got nine points, Hughes has a nine points. and then they're just gonna have to get traffic in front of E Sperwallstead. that guy's been phenomenal. And you know, he's four and one, he's got a nine thirty save percentage during this winning tr streak. So it's just gonna be a matter of getting, you know, taking his eyes away, doing what Cernak did against Soderbloom, where you just kinda get in and take up that that vision, get to the rebounds and kind of. Gotta get into the kitchen. Yep, it's gonna be, if you're gonna win, you're gonna win ugly. you're not gonna win with beautiful passing plays against against it Minnesota. So it's gonna be a grind. I think if the Lightnings split this first the first half of the the road trip, they're doing just fine. I know they've struggled on the road, that two, three, and two record isn't isn't very sexy, but yeah, they've had some tough competition and they're kinda getting it all out of the way now and getting through this Western Conference portion of the trip of or of the season, I should say. So if I I think there's a path to victory against Minnesota. It's just gonna be you're gonna have to work hard. You're gonna have to grind it out. you're gonna have to win face-offs and just control the puck. Well, the Lightning right now find themselves in third place in the Atlantic division. Only three points behind the Boston Bruins, but the Lightning have multiple games in hand. They find themselves in a nice spot within the division. You're starting to see The haves and the have not start to slowly separate. It's an 84 game schedule, but you're starting to see a little bit of separation, not just in the Atlantic, but across the NHL standings. Justin, give us an update on what's going on over at Raw Charge. We're just keeping we're just plugging away. We talked about, you know, the Dominic James situation a little bit, getting sent down to or sent over to Syracuse. I think just more getting reps. I thought he had a great game against Detroit. I thought he looked really well. So it's it's not really his his effort or his playing time out there, or how he's performing. I just think it's he's a guy who's kinda gonna get lost in the shuffle a little bit. we talked about Vasilevskiy, you know, not to pile onto the contract drama in Tampa, but he's set to become, you know, a free agent in a year. You know, he can start negotiating now. He can sign a new deal July first. Millstone did mention him. said he's extremely happy right now in Tampa. So that's that's what you wanna hear. he did mention the goal of playing a thousand games with the Lightning, which is would be almost unprecedented in the NHL. There's only four goalies who've hit that thousand game mark and only one, Marty Brodeur who did it with one franchise. so he, you know it it is funny 'cause you know, he's talking about how good how happy Vasi is, but he's like, you know what? So was Kucherov off a year ago. So it's you know, always gotta throw that. He's representing his client. He has to make sure. Yeah. You you you can say everything you want about Dam Millstein, but he fights for his clients. So it's gonna be an interesting year. but yeah, so we're gonna keep moving forward with all that stuff. We will be back early next week. We're gonna recap the road games at Minnesota and at Winnipeg back-to-back games this weekend. We're gonna recap those and preview the upcoming tilts on the road against Buffalo and the Columbus Blue Jackets. For Justin Godfrey, who you can read each and every day at www.rawcharge.com. I'm Jason Linkes.. Thanks for joining us. Please hit that like and subscribe button and go Bolts.. Go Bolts.. Thank you for listening to Backchecking 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 Blue Sky at Rawcharge.com. You can follow the show on X at Tampa underscore Bolts. underscore pod and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at BackcheckingTheBolts. 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.