EP. 7 "X Marks the Spot"

Stevie Z recaps the last few games of the season for the Bolts. He also addresses the last 10 games for the Bolts and if their record means anything thing heading into the playoffs. Stevie Z also addresses some habits that he's noticed from the Bolts over the last stretch of games and if those should be a cause for concern. He covers the final regular season stats for the Bolts as a team and highlights some individual players. Lastly, he speaks on the confirmed playoff matchups thus far. 

Transcript

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543 21. What is going on, everyone? You are tuning in to the 401 Channel Side Podcast, a Tampa Bay Lightning fan podcast hosted by yours truly, Stevie Z. The NHL regular season is finally complete for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They are now gearing up for their first round matchup versus the Montreal Canadiens. This episode won't be too long. I just wanted to kind of recap their last four games, hit on some talking points, and then set ourselves up for the playoff preview that is going to be released later this week. So let's get into it. Not too much detail with these game recaps starting last Thursday versus Montreal. Bolts go up to Montreal, lose 2-1. It's a bit of a slog through the first couple periods, get to the third period. Bolts end up tying it 1-1 late in the third off a radish goal. His 21st of the season. 45 seconds later, Mosier behind the Tampa Bay net, boneheaded play, tries to make a backhand pass to relieve some pressure. Nick Suzuki blocks the attempt, finds Slavkowski all alone in front of Vasilevsky. Uh Slawkoski pots it 2-1. Montreal wins. A couple thoughts on that game. Montreal came out with a purpose to get under the skin of Kucharov, Gensel, and Point. They were incredibly aggressive. Anderson and company were just trying to chase those guys around all night long, especially Kucharov. And just anything that he could do to bother him, Anderson was trying to do. Now, in saying that, I do think that it was a lot of posturing by Montreal. I'm just not sure, given how their penalty kill has been this season, if they're going to be willing to do that in a seven-game series versus Tampa Bay. They might. On Saturday, Bolts head to Boston for 12-30 Matt May versus the Bruins. Bolts end up winning 2-1. Hagel draws back into the lineup. And look, much of the same as the first, except it goes the lightning way. Bolts get a game-winning goal late in the third with 135 left by Emile Lilleberg. This play is really generated by Braden Point in the offensive zone. Just fighting to maintain the puck. He puts a puck on net for rebound. Lilleberg loses the man that's marking him. Gets the rebound, puts it in the net. Bolts win 2-1. Headed to Monday night versus Detroit. Bolts get the 4-3 win in overtime. Look, Bolts naturally get off to a 1-0 deficit. The Bolts score the next three goals. And then in the third period, they kind of go to sleep. Detroit ends up tying it off a uh silly pass from Das 2 to Lilleberg at the blue line in the offensive zone. Lilleberg is not able to see Patrick Kane behind him. Well, Patrick Kane steals the puck and goes on a two-on-one with De Brinkett. And look, it's Kane to De Brinkett into the net. Kane gets his 1400th point of his career. It's tied headed in OT. Well, into OT. The Red Wings get a chance when De Brinkett just gets a loose puck, blows by Mosier, but Vasi makes the save. Braden Point picks the puck up, skates alongside the board with Kucharoff, and now Tampa has their own two uh two-on-one. Well, Braden Point skates across the net front versus Talbot, dishes back to Kucharoff who puts it into the open net. Bolts win 4-3. And the Bolts get their 50th win of the season. And then headed to the final game of the season versus uh the New York Rangers. Like it was a Hodge Podge guys, no point, no McDonough, no Mosier, uh, no Sorelli, no Gensel. They called up a couple guys from the AHL and Chafee and Peltier. And then Halverson wasn't net, and Vasi served as the backup. Max Crozier makes uh an appearance after 26 games on on the IR. And look, this game was difficult to watch, not from the sense that uh it was a bad game. It's just it's game 82. The bolts are locked in the playoffs, they have home ice. It's about what you would expect. Bolts end up losing 4-2. Uh, the Rangers goalie has himself a knight. And you know what? That's that good for them. The Bolts are on to bigger and better things. Looking at the Bolts' last 10 games of the season, right? The Bolts go 5-5 over that stretch, and looking at it doesn't really matter. Well, here's a stat for you guys: the last seven Stanley Cup winners, and there's their final 10 games. Okay. Uh, last year's Panthers go 4-6, the Panthers from 23-24 go seven and three. Uh Vegas in 22-23 go six-1-3. The Avs in 21-22 go 4-5-1. Lightning in 2021 uh go four, five, and one as well. Uh, the 2019-20 season for the Lightnings, look I'm not sure if you could really consider a last 10 because there was a big break, but the Bolts go 3-6-1, and then 18-19, St. Louis Blues go 7-1 and 2. Is there a correlation between those last 10 games and how they do in the playoffs? Not necessarily. There isn't, but there is something about habits, right? And and I've mentioned this in a previous episode about will they be able to turn on a switch? So here's some things that habitually I've seen from the Bolts uh that may be a cause of concern heading into the playoffs. Number one, uh, or not number one, but the main thing that I've noticed is is how they've defended transition and odd man rush chances and kind of getting out of their own zone and through the neutral zone. That will have to be cleaned up greatly. Uh, just over this last 10-game stretch, just every game, really Buffalo, Ottawa, Boston, Detroit, uh, just they've given up a lot of opportunities in transition and and just rush chances. That what you're hoping is as they build their game in what is the players like to call the second season in the playoffs, that they are mitigating some of those issues, finding ways to nix and correct any problems that may come from transition and poor puck management through the neutral zone or just trying to get it out of the defensive zone. The other thing that is a little bit concerning, but I don't know if it's so much so, is the Bolts go into the playoffs one for 32 on the power play through this most recent stretch. Uh look, we know the Boltz power play goes through hot and cold spells throughout the season. Is it concerning? Look, I the number is concerning. I wouldn't say that it's concerning from the from the fact that they're getting chances. Number one. Uh, number two, look, at some point, this group is too talented for them not to score power play goals. I do think that it can be a little bit telegraphed, and I do think that because it is so telegraphed and so static, right? The static power play, the only person who really moves around is Kucharov, whether he's going from off the half wall to the point to try to set himself up, or if he's going from the half wall to uh, you know, near the net or behind it to try to facilitate some playmaking. I I do think that this group is too talented on the power play for it to just not produce in the playoffs and for it just to continue to be on the slump that they're on. But from from an ability to switch to flip the switch, look, I said that a couple weeks ago. Uh, here's the thing that I've noticed over this last stretch of games is that they kind of sleepwalk through the first two periods and then turn it on in the third. If what we're going to see in the playoffs is a consistent effort of what they've been giving in the third period through these last stretch of games here, I really do like the Boltz chances, at least headed into round one. It makes me feel confident. You know, couple that with what you hope will be a power play that will click, uh, begin to click. Look, I mean, you you gotta have it. You gotta produce on the power play because you know you're not getting a lot of opportunities in the playoffs. The penalty kill for the bolts has has been excellent all year, right? So it's been consistent. There's not really much of a concern there. Yeah. And I mean, just from that's just what I've noticed for the last 10. Those are the concerns, right? We'll see if that'll be rectified, if if there's an urgency to, like I said, nix any of those issues uh that we'll that we'll notice in round one, uh, really from the off in game one. And I'm not saying that it's going to be corrected right then, but it'll it'll just be interesting to see what's been talked about and and how they'll go about fixing it. Uh some of the bolt stats, right, as as 382 games, right? So the bolts finish 50, 26, and six. Look, fifth in wins and points with 106, 50 wins 106 points, third in regulation wins with 40, fourth in goals for with 290, third in goals allowed with 231, second in goal differential at a plus 59, they're fourth in goals for per game at 3.49, third in goals allowed per game at 2.79, 17th in power play percentage at 20.7, and third in the PK 82.6. Like I said, the power play has been average all year long. They've gone through hot and cold stretches. I just think that they're too talented to just stay at that number right through the playoffs. That's some individual statistics. Vasi 39 wins in 58 games with a 912 save percentage and a 2.31 uh goals allowed average. He'd be my favorite for the Vesna. I just maybe biased, maybe not. You look at the statistics right now, he's first in the league and wins. Uh Vamilka from Utah has a chance to match him, but his save percentage is not as good. Neither is his is his GAA. Uh Bolts had six players over 50 points, uh, or 50 plus points, and they had four players with 70 plus points. Gord was the only player for the Bolts address in all 82 games. Kooch led the team with 130 points, and looking at it, there was a stat that Eric Erlinson put out uh on Twitter where Kucharov became the 10th player in lightning history. I'm sorry, not in lightning history, but in NHL history to reach the 130-point mark on multiple in multiple seasons. The others are Gretzky, Lemie, or Esposiero, Dion, McDavid, Curry, Iserman, and Lifler. So he's in good company once again. And just in terms of where he ranks among Russian-born players, Kuchrov now has four of the five, uh, four of the top five highest scoring seasons by a Russian-born player. 144 points, 130 points, 128 points. McGillney is fourth with 127, and Kucharov is fifth. Uh, he's first, second, third, and fifth. His fifth being 121 points. Greatness that we get to witness how lucky we are on a nightly basis throughout the hockey season. And what we're hoping is that that regular season success will transition to the postseason for Kucharov. Jay Gensel, career high in points with 88, and a career high in assists with 50. Radish, 70 points, uh, 21 goals, which is a Tampa Bay Lightning single season record for defensemen. He's fourth all-time in single season points by defense in team history. The other three are by the captain Victor Hedman. So, from a statistical standpoint, some of these Bolts had really good seasons. Guys like Braden Point, who he only got to 50 points, but he was injured a lot and he had some personal things going on at the beginning of the season. He just was never really able to find form. What you hope is that in the playoffs, we just he's an X Factor. We'll touch on that in the preview. Let's look at some of the other confirmed playoff matchups in the East. I'm interested in all of these. Obviously, Tampa Bay, Montreal, uh, Buffalo, Boston. We'll see if Buffalo can really live up to the billing of being the new kid on the block and just some of the pressures that come associated with that. Boston has swaymen and they're a heavy team. They play very well at home. It'll be interesting to see how they match up versus Buffalo, uh, Carolina, Ottawa. Look, I I've said it, I've said it multiple times. I enjoy watching Ottawa play. They're a fun team to watch. I don't think they're going to be an easy out for uh Carolina. I'll be honest with you, I trust Old Mark more than I trust Brandon Bussey or Frederick Anderson. That's just how I'm feeling about it. You know, they they might be high octane, but uh Ottawa has been consistent, and I want to talk about them here in a second. The other matchup in the East, Pittsburgh and Philly, the Battle of Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh in the playoffs for the first time in three years, Philadelphia for the first time in five years. I believe that's going to be an all-out brawl. I mean, if you can remember Crosby in his early, early in his career said he did not like uh Flyers fans. Obviously, he's much older now. I'm really looking forward to that series and just seeing what could be a last goal round for Malkin, Crosby and Letang in a Penguins uniform and making the playoffs. On the West Side, the only confirmed matchup right now is Dallas and Minnesota. That's another one that I'm interested in because I'm just not really interested in the any of the Pacific matchups, right? Or those wildcard matchups. I don't really think the Pacific is that good. And I mean, I really have no interest in watching teams who barely scrape to get 90 points gonna try to battle it out and somehow make the second round. I'm not a big fan of that, but I digress. Let's talk about Ottawa and Detroit, and we'll wrap this up. Uh Ottawa. Look, I mean, I I don't really know what to say. On January 12th, 2026, they were tied for last place in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20, 19, and 5. Okay. By January 30th, they trailed the final playoff spot by 10 points. Okay. So they made that up. They made that deficit up by winning 20 of their next 29 games to secure a playoff spot. They finished the season with 99 points. Okay, 44 wins. 44, 27, and 11, 99 points. Travis Green has done an excellent job. The guys who held down the four, well, Jake Sanderson and Shabbat were injured, and Shabbat is not even human to come back after 18 days with a broken arm and help his team clinch a playoff spot. I'm telling you, they're rolling right now. And I just really think that that series is an interesting series to watch, Ottawa versus uh Carolina. Conversely, the Red Wings, an absolute disaster. Absolute disaster. I mean, they got resounding booze in their last home game, and rightfully so. Rightfully so. In a playoff position for nearly 80% of the season, the Red Wings were in a playoff spot for 148 days of the season. In late January, while Ottawa was slumping or in last place, the Red Wings led the Atlantic division. And even though they slipped in the standings, they were in the wild card positions as late as March 21st in the last two weeks, last three weeks of the season. Absolute train wreck. Absolute train wreck. So I yeah, they do deserve uh to get booed off the ice at home. Uh, will Stevie Y still be the general manager next year? I'm not sure. He's got a great relationship with the Illich family. He's almost like another child of the Illich family. Maybe they transition him to the president of Hockey Ops and let somebody from Grand Rapids, their AHL affiliate, who's done really well this year, uh, take over as general manager. We'll see. I would imagine that they would stay status quo, but I wouldn't be surprised if Stevie Y transitions to another role within the organization and then they let someone else who might be more willing to take some risks and some player acquisition uh take over, right? Because I think they've drafted, they haven't drafted game breakers, but they've drafted solid players. And Iserman has just been really cautious about going to get players in free agency and on at the trade deadline that at some point his teams are gonna have to make a jump, right? I just don't think it's acceptable that they're in the Atlantic, leading the Atlantic in January and then fall out of a playoff spot. But that's just my personal opinion on it. Uh look, guys, I'm really excited. I'm stoked for the playoffs. It's finally here. We don't have a schedule yet. We're hoping by Thursday that we get a schedule. Uh, hopefully, by the time this gets out to you, we'll have a schedule so I can uh cover it on the uh playoff preview that will be out to you on Friday morning. But anyway, guys, I like I said, I'm so excited. I woke up this morning for work and I'm just like fist pumping in silence because I knew that that Wednesday was the last day of the NHL regular season, and that our favorite time or what has become our favorite time as Lightning fans is is finally here. And listen, Bolts fans, do not take this for granted. Do not take this time for granted. We're nine straight years in making the playoffs. Uh, we've only missed the playoffs once in Coop's tenure here. Uh, it's not something to be taken for granted. Let's enjoy it. Let's hope the Bolts have a hell of a run. We'll talk soon, guys, for the playoff preview. See ya.