Lightning vs. Montreal 2026 Playoff Game 4 Raw Reaction

Stevie Z gives his reaction to a vintage Bolts playoff comeback win, in a 3-2 Game 4 win over Montreal.

Transcript

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What is going on, everyone? 401 channel side podcast here, Stevie Z and your bolts rally in game four. Take the win three to two over the Montreal Canadiens. Wow. I mean this series continues to be one where you can flip a coin and on any given night you don't know what you're gonna get. I mean the bolts give up the first goal tonight of just some insane puck luck for Montreal. Like Radish has Bulduk, it seems perfectly defended. Vassi gets the initial save, the puck hits off Bulduk's crest and into the net, back down one zero, and and and the bolts had played so well. And then Caulfield gets a power play goal in the second period to make it two zero, his first of the series. And at that point, you're thinking, oh no, Tampa might be in some trouble here. Because it it was just another one of those games where Tampa was pushing and pushing and pushing, and it just seems like there was a concrete wall around the net. Like Dobesh is so far out of position for a lot of these shots, and he's just diving to get back into the crease to make a save, and he's doing it. You gotta give credit where credit is due. Tonight, the bolts delivered, that vintage playoff performance that we have been yearning for for so long. Just the passion, the grit, the just the finding a way to win the game. And tonight the big guns did it for the bolts. Brandon Hagel 25 minutes tonight, two goals. Jay Gensl, one goal and an assist. Nikita Kucharov, two assists, the big guns did it again. Hagel 27 shifts tonight. And he was everywhere. Kucharov. How about this? How about the maturation of Kucharoff? A player who would in the playoffs get so frustrated and just would shrivel. Tonight, tonight, taking those cross checks, the shots in the back from Strubbel, and they're just three, four, five cross-checks to the low of the back. No response from Kuchev. Just continuing to play. This is what we have been wanting to see from this team in terms of just the battle. Look, going down 2-0 at the Bell Center tonight, the way that Montreal has played with blocking shots, and the way that it just the way this series has gone, you would think that a two-goal lead was insurmountable for Tampa tonight. And it's not that they weren't trying. Because you look at it, natural stat trick in all situations tonight. So five on five, any even strength situation, power play, penalty kill. The Bolts, high danger chances 20. Montreal, nine. And here's the big one again. In the third period, Montreal had one high danger chance. Two scoring chances four in the third period. Now I'll be honest with you, I'm not really sure how what's predicating what's a high danger chance. Uh, because there are a couple different places where you can find some of the data and the analysis, and and they all are interpreted many different ways. This is just the most consistent and easy, most easily, most easiest to access on natural stat trick. This team, it just watching the game tonight, it was just the dread. They gave up the first goal, you're like, oh no. They give up the second goal, you're like, this might be it. And they get that four-on-four goal near the end of the second period. Jay Gensel starts the play. Jay Gensel finishes the play off a ridiculous diagonal pass from JJ Mosier at the back post. Dobesh has no chance. Power play comes to life and score the tying goal. Listen, and here's the thing: the refs were on one tonight. 13 called penalties in total. Tampa one for seven, Montreal one for six. A lot of takey tack soft calls just in general tonight. I don't know, like some phantom, it seemed like phantom high sticking, some phantom cross checks. Uh, what was not a phantom cross check was Jake Evans. That, I mean, that's dangerous as hell. The fact that he got downgraded from a major, like, that's not a hockey play at all. That's not in the realm of the game. You shove a guy in the back, he's I mean, yeah, he's got eye contact on you, but you shove him in the back that that that amount of distance, what, five feet from the boards? And look, people like Montreal fans were at their end tonight when Kuchirov got hurt and then came back a couple seconds later on the power play. I'm I'm gonna guess that the initial shock of getting sent into the boards, and Brian Engblom has said it on the local broadcast that the boards at the Bell Center do not give, they are very stiff. And we just had to collectively hold our breath tonight as Lightning fans when Kuchrov went into the board and he did not get up. Maybe he's selling it, maybe he's not, who knows? Who cares? All I know is that he came back on the ice, and when the bolts had that five-on-three, that was absolutely pathetic. What maybe one shot, maybe get a five-on-three? And listen, they won the game, awesome. That five-on-three was atrocious. You register maybe one shot. What do you do? You get you think you get points for however many passes you can complete on the power play, especially on a five-on-three? Had a chance to just really break the game wide open. But then, of course, later on, late in the third period, what have we been begging for this team to do? Just put the puck on the net. Kucharov from his favorite spot on the ice, near the wall. Just flings a puck towards the net, and guess what? The puck hits Brandon Hagel in the crest and goes right past Dobesh. Finally, finally, just a little bit of just a bounce, a little bit of puck luck going Tampa Bay's way in this series. It hasn't happened often, but tonight, in the most crucial moment, and the thing is like in the playoffs, guys, like you know, out of all four sports, all four major sports in America, more specifically, the the United States, out of all four major leagues, hockey is the one that requires chance and some luck. Because it's just random. You can't account for, like you cannot account for an errant shot hitting off somebody. You cannot account for a goalie making a save and then the same player who shot the puck, having the puck bounce off his stomach and into the net. You cannot account for those things. But that is why hockey, more specifically, playoff hockey, has us on a knife's edge. And when you watch this lightning team, who I will say, for a majority of this series through four games, I have felt, and this is my personal opinion, have been second best in a lot of areas of this of this series. I have felt that. And it's just more so an eye test. They just they were looking either a step behind, or Montreal was just everywhere, sticks and lanes, you know, the more physical team. And tonight we just saw that mature lightning team that experience, you know, you you beat them with experience, you frustrate them with poise, and tonight we got we got that. For the first time in a long time, we got that. How about this? I said it in the last reaction. You could tell in game three when it turned for Montreal, and that was the fourth power play of the game. Tampa just passing non-stop. No shots. Second unit comes on, and they're on. Montreal kills the penalty, second unit gets hemmed in, and then Kirby Doc shoots a puck and it hits off Ryan McDonough, goes short side on Vasi. Tonight, that turning moment was Max Crozier. Oh my gosh, Slavkovski, get off the railroad tracks, brother. I mean, at some point you gotta think this guy's gotta get tired of getting caught. Hagel's caught him already once with a one-hitter quitter on the punch. And now Max Crozier, who's inserted into the lineup, whoever, whoever gave Slavkowski that suicide pass through center ice, deserves to give him like a hug because he set him up. And Max Crozier took full advantage of probably the best, most clean, open ice hockey hit we've seen in the playoffs in a very long time. I thought Slavkowski was done. Shout out to him for coming back, though, in the third period. But that hit, Crozier's skates are on the ice, his elbow is tucked, and he just goes straight through the body. We have been waiting for something like that. That is what playoff hockey is. The open ice hits where you catch someone lacking a little bit, not paying attention, your playoff or your teammate puts you in a bad position, and lightning capitalized tonight. And just when that happened, you could kind of feel and see by how the lightning played, there was just a little bit more jump, they just stood up just a little bit more taller, it just lit them up a little bit, just that spark to get them going. Really a pivotal moment in game four tonight. That hit for sure, and even after the game, like media members, if you happen to watch the post-game um scripts, where they're asking John Cooper about that hit and if it's a turning point. I mean, look, that's so that that's that's so far-fetched right now. We don't know. We'll discuss that at the end of the series if Tampa wins. But for tonight, it it did its job. Absolutely. Montreal fans had no idea who the hell to boo tonight. They didn't know if they were to boo Hagel, Kucharov, the refs. They didn't know who to, they didn't know who to boo. I mean, and it's it's like playoff hockey is so interesting because it is playoff sports in general, but playoff hockey, something can change in an instant. And Montreal fans went from the Ole Olé Olé chants, they that place was rocking. Hampa scored on the power play goal and the resounding boos and refs you suck chant. I'm sorry, I I must have this confused. I thought, according to traditional hockey markets, ref you suckchants were only reserved for the uncultured, know-nothing hockey fan bases. I guess not. Considering that the the most prestigious and royal hockey fan base in the world has decided to dilute themselves to get down to the manor of those stupid southern hockey markets and say and chant the ref you suck chant. Oh, glorious, glorious. And and listen, I'm talking shit now, but up until that hit and that goal, I was I was I was in one. I felt it. I was like, I felt like a pit in my stomach. I was like, no, this is not happening. But as a fan, you gotta stick through it, stick, stick with your team. And I'll tell you what, they rewarded us something special tonight, guys and girls. The bolts, that that penalty kill at the end of the game, all absolute clutch. Suzuki misfiring. Like they packed it in so tight, and I'm and we are the question about Vasi through four games about whether he would deliver or not, he has delivered. He has. He's making the crucial save, he's in very good position. A lot of the goals that are that have beaten him in this series, I'm not too entirely sure he could do much about outside of game one over time. Slafkovsky shot that Vasi was out of position, he got he got caught, and Slafkovsky sniped it. For a majority of this series, I'm I'm not sure that Vasi could have done much. How about this Kucharov? We talked about it. What type of Kuchov would we get? Yes, we wanted to see the the points. We wanted to see the points, we wanted to see him scoring goals, but how he's affecting the game, how he's commanding so much attention, how he's battling through it and not shriveling and hiding away in frustration when things aren't going his way. Kucharov is active through four games in this series, and he has looked really good. And you know what? I wonder if he's just feeding off the booze. Like this guy loves the villain role. If you would look up in the dictionary of current hockey villain, right? Somebody who everybody loves to hate, Nikita Kucharov. There has to be an image of Nikita Kucharov as just the perfect hockey villain. Doesn't say much to the media, doesn't give a shit what the media thinks, doesn't care what anybody thinks. He just goes out there and plays, and sometimes he plays on the edge with a little stick work, you know, sometimes he'll throw out a little hip or something, you know. Sometimes he'll embellish something, and then he'll come out. I I honestly, I was waiting for Kouchi Rov to score tonight and just give the Shush celebration. Obviously, he didn't score tonight, but man, I I don't I don't even know what to say. I was jacked watching that clock windle down tonight. When they scored, there was 453 left. They scored the game-winning goal. 453 left. My ass was clenched so tight on my couch because I had, I was just all like, oh gosh, what could like going through every scenario of what could potentially happen tonight? Just so good. So good. This series has been incredible. If you were a neutral fan and you're listening to this, and you have tuned in to watch this series, you have been given a gift of a series. Because it's got everything: clutch goals, some like a lot of chippiness. I mean, you've got star players. I mean, I've I've I've continued to say this, so I'm just gonna keep saying it. Four games through, the big line for Montreal, still still not doing really much of anything five on five. Now, they did beat Tampa like a drum in the face-off circle tonight. Montreal won 65%, but for post-game, I saw a stat. Looking at it, Tampa 20 shots to Montreal's 18. Tampa 35% face-off, Montreal 65, Tampa 1 for 7, Montreal 1 for 6 on the power play. Montreal had 50 hits to Tampa's 28, but there was only one hit that matters. That was Crozier's. Through four games in this series, both teams have 11 goals. Tampa has four power play goals, Montreal has five. The Lightning have 94 shots on goals. Uh shots on goal. Montreal has 93 penalty minutes, 71 for Tampa, 73 for Montreal. This is as bad as even of a playoff series that I think we have witnessed the Lightning play. I mean, probably in the John Cooper era. I mean, it it has to be. Like you, like I said, flip a coin, you do not know what you are going to get game to game in this series. Brandon Hagel continuing to just be the best player in this series. Who has got five goals in four games? Like, this is a guy who is living for this right now. He is willing the Tampa Bay Lightning on a nightly basis. I mean, he does it in the regular season for sure, but how about this? To back it up in the playoffs. Like last year, obviously, he got knocked out. We didn't get to see what we wanted to see from him, but this year, just delivering game after game after game, and he is he's like standing up on the bench and looking at Coop and saying, Coop, put me on, count on me. I'm gonna bring this team into the fight. Coop is still doing the the uh the matchup thing, trying to win a face-off and get the get those guys off the ice and then bring on the the matchup that he wants. Kind of dangerous, but tonight it it was effective. Bjork Strand drew back into the lineup. I I thought I thought he actually looked good. You know, obviously not scoring, but from a skating perspective, just watching how he was moving about and controlling the parts of the ice that he that he was on, I I thought he looked good. Crozier looked really good. Lilleberg has continued to worry me in this series. He he seems like he's a step behind, like he's losing board battles, falling on the ice, you know, taking a little bit long with the puck. Uh, there have been instances. Where I felt that McDonough and Chernak were a little bit of the same in the series, taking too long with the puck, getting hemmed in sometimes. Montreal does a really good job on the four check. But these last two games, the tightness that Montreal has played with defensively, it has waned in parts of this game. Yes, no doubt, they are the best shot blocking team in the league. They are pretty buttoned up defensively, especially after the Olympics. But we are seeing as the series goes on, they are becoming more open defensively because it's just really hard to play that tight and that structured throughout an entire playoff series. I don't care who you are, to do that is really hard to do. Dobesh did the first two games, who looked absolutely unbeatable. He is still Jay Gensell got a penalty for that soft ass slash, if you could even call it that. Yeah, Dobesh had the putzley, poked him. The ref was on one with that call. The ref was on one with the Yanni Gord call. And I'm not one to bitch about refs. I've just the standard of officiating in terms of you don't normally see that called because it's deemed a soft penalty or a soft call in the playoffs. Tonight they were calling all of them. And look, it's the Wes Macaulay show. Anytime he he refs, especially a lightning game, you know that everybody's there to see him and nobody's there to actually see the game. But for tonight, we got we saw the bolts that we've been wanting to see. Just the gritty battle. The compete. Doing it all, and you know what? I like how Coop said, you know what? Screw it. I'm not gonna stoop down and put Saburn in. We're just gonna play hockey. We're just gonna play hockey and see where things go. Because realistically, no one can go with the Shaq guy. Well, we don't have anybody on the team who can really go with him. So why waste our time with him or Anderson? Just play hockey. Tonight I thought they did that. And you know what? They stuck with it. It didn't look good through about 35 minutes. In the third period, they smelt blood, they went after it, they stuck to it, they got the win, they tied the series. Now there's a game six. A guaranteed game six. I would have been a wreck if Montreal would have won this game coming back to Tampa 3-1, knowing that they can really play that game where they shut it down and that Tampa is just going to be gripping their sticks and not willing to shoot, trying to find the perfect shot. It was good to see from the bolts. But um, look, guys, series is tied 2-2. And they gotta come back to Tampa and let it be the last time that these Jokers come back to Tampa for this for the playoffs. Oh man, I hope Tampa can get this win and go back up to Montreal with the series lead. But anyway, guys, we'll we'll talk, we'll talk after game five.