Lightning vs. Montreal 2026 Playoff Game 6 Raw Reaction

Stevie Z gives his reaction to a Bolts 1-0 OT win over Montreal in Game 6, where the Bolts stave off elimination in their grittiest victory of the series. 

Transcript

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What is going on, everyone? Stevie Z401 Channel Side Podcast here to give you the game six raw reaction. Your Tampa Bay Lightning. Go up to the Bell Center. Get a greasy 1-0 win over the Montreal Canadians to force a game seven. I mean, this has been the greittiest, gutsiest performance of the series so far for the Tampa Bay Lightning. And it was frustrating, but not in the sense like game five was. I was I was I was on one after game five because the lightning did not show up for that game. And tonight they showed up. They just couldn't buy a goal. 80 shot attempts tonight before overtime. 28 on net. So they clearly came out with the intent to shoot. And they just couldn't buy one. And sure enough, in OT after Kucherov takes a tripping penalty in the offensive zone, the penalty kill comes up with the most clutch penalty kill of the season thus far. And shortly thereafter, we get a nice little keep in behind Montreal's net by Lilleberg, who, by the way, I didn't think I don't think he looked great this series, but tonight was Lilleberg's best game. And the keep that he had and how he ran just a little bit of interference on Kirby Doc when the puck got to Hegel at the point near the benches inside the blue line. And Hegel makes a nice little move, passes it to Dominic James, who then makes a nice little pass to Gage Gonçalves, who is parked out front of Dobesh, gets two whacks at it, pots it home, rebolts overtime victory. I I mean where do you even begin to describe what this game was like? First of all, it was a hell of a game. It was so evenly matched. Teams were hitting post, Vasi versus Dobesh making save after save. This game tonight from start to finish was vintage Andre Vasilevsky. The two saves that he made back to back on Demidov on the power play in the second period. Oh my gosh. He came to play tonight. He was dialed in. And and here's the thing, every game in this series. I mean what, with the exception of game four. Oh no, even game four. Every game has been a one-goal game. I mean, this series has been so evenly matched. If if you are a neutral, you could could not have asked for anything more. And to get off this soapbox, it is a shame that these two teams are meeting in the first round. But they are so evenly matched. But tonight, the just that there was an edge about the lightning. They knew that they had to play with a level of desperation, otherwise, their season was over. But they had to play with a level of desperation that we had not seen them get to yet in this series, really, for the entire duration of the game, and especially after the stinker they laid in game five, but to come out tonight from the jump, and they had it, and there were some moments where they were they were tense. But Andre Vasilevsky was dialed in all the way through. And his post-game interview talked about how he tries to not get too emotional. He doesn't feel the Bell Center atmosphere, he doesn't hear the crowd. And I just thought, man, this guy is like a Stone Cold killer in the net, man. Great to see from Andre Vasilevsky, who gets his eighth career playoff shutout tonight when the Bolts needed. And they didn't just shut up, they just needed a win. But an emphatic shutout for Andre Vasilevsky. And Dobesh equally was very good tonight. Very good tonight. I mean, he was making save after save. The lightning were having the hardest time, and the lightning could not get a bounce. They couldn't get a rebound. Puck over the stick in front of the net. Just you they couldn't buy one. And all series long, I feel like I've been clamoring for the lightning to drive the net. Drive the net. Find a way to work inside and just get a scramble play. The Canadians have done it all series long. It's a strategy that works. You just put the puck there, cause something to happen, and you know what? Maybe the goalie miss plays it, maybe it'll hit off his pads. It ends up on someone's stick for the lightning and in the net. Sure enough, that's what happened tonight. This was an interesting stat that I saw after the game, and I didn't really believe too much of it. But uh in all situations tonight, the lightning had 26 high danger chances, four and seven against, and certainly did not feel that way. Especially early on in the game. It felt like Montreal was just the thing about Montreal in the series, and in into tonight, early part of the game, is just that every time they are skating into the offensive zone, they are so direct with everything they do. They are to the net all the time. They waste no opportunity to get the puck on the net. And it just makes me a little anxious. Like tonight I thought that the fensemen for the lightning were activating. They were pinchings, they were so up high that early on the puck was just ending up behind the lightning for odd man rushes, and Vassi's just shut it down. The power play was okay. I mean, the third one was probably the best one, but they they couldn't buy a goal. It seemed like they were trying to force, you know, the bumper shot to point. And it was kind of crazy because they were sagging off Gensel at the goal line extended on that third power play with Kucharov moving up top. And you were thinking that Gensel would get that puck at the left circle and just kind of skate into the front of the net because they weren't playing him. They were so concerned with a cross crease pass or the pass to the bumper that you thought maybe Jay Gensel would skate in and just try to cause a little bit of havoc tonight. But he didn't. Um, they were shooting for sure, but they didn't seem so in tight initially. It seemed like the Canadians were doing a very good job of keeping Tampa from the slot and just working really hard defensively to keep Tampa to the out the outer perimeter of the offensive zone. And sure enough, in OT, Tampa just decides to turn it on because they have to. And they had played really well all game, but turn it on for from the standpoint of especially after the penalty kill, they just were not gonna let Montreal have another chance. I I just I mean, I I don't even know how to feel. Like, if you heard Dave Mishkin's call after the game, goosebumps. If you haven't heard it, I encourage you to go listen to it. Um he is so amped up where he has to take a pause in commentating on what just happened, and he says, Hold on, I need to catch my breath. Oh, that guy's a fan, just like all of us. I love Dave Mishkin. Wow. How about just Brandon Hagel tonight? 29 minutes. Darren Radish 28 minutes, Mosier 25 minutes, Sarelli 23, Chernack 23, Kucharoff just under 23. I mean, they were really going the night. The only player under 10 minutes tonight was Cord Perry. Yeah, under 10 minutes. 9.43 tonight. Oh man. I mean, just what a night. What a night. I mean, there is something about game six, overtime game-winning goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning versus Canadian teams 2004 against Calgary, Marty St. Louis. And how about that? Just sheer coincidence, maybe, that the first, I guess you could say, recollectable game six overtime goal in the playoffs, one of the most iconic goals for the Tampa Bay Lightning in their history is Marty St. Louis' game six second overtime game-winning goal against Calgary in the Stanley Cup final. And sure enough, tonight, Gage Gonçalves gets an incredibly important game six overtime game-winning goal against a Marty St. Louis coached Montreal team. I mean, I I don't even know if that's symmetry or anything like that, but just what are the odds of that? And the other one is is that Toronto, that Toronto Game 6 game in the first round with Braden Point poking the puck into the net. I remember I was in the building for that game. That was I can't remember a time when Emily was louder of just relief. Oh man, I jumped off my couch tonight when Gage and Salvas put that puck in. So yeah, I mean, I I honestly don't know who deserved to win the game tonight. It was so evenly matched. And look, I don't have to think about this now. I I obviously, as a fan, I would have been disappointed if the Lightning would have lost this game and we would have dissected every single aspect of the series up to that point after they had lost. But I was so happy just to see the grittiness, the fight, this team not getting discouraged, and just to keep battling and battling and battling. And going into OT, you're like, gosh, this is you got that that impression that it's like we're gonna get some stupid bounce that goes off a Tampa Bay defenseman and onto the stick of somebody random from Montreal and they're gonna end the series in overtime because this game had that feeling. We have seen it all too often as Tampa Bay Lightning fans, where it's just all like, of course that guy would score. Why not? Like it could have been Josh Anderson. And I'm thinking, like, oh gosh, Arbor Jack guy is gonna get a bomb of a point shot, and it's gonna be the one that Vasi doesn't see, and it ends up in the net. And thankfully, that did not happen tonight. Because the lightning went. I thought some of the penalty calls were interesting tonight, and some the lack thereof, they really let them, the refs really let them play through the first period, and then they got Jay Gensel for a high sticking. I thought maybe you could have taken both of them. Um the the das do slashing on Deneau. It's on his leg, nowhere near the hands. I get it, you can't use your stick in that manner. We usually never see that called the the point. I can't believe they missed that or chose not to call it on the power play when Matheson just takes a whack at the puck and they talk about it was a follow-through. He didn't even touch the puck, so how the hell can it be a follow-through? And PK Suban. Unfortunately, I had to watch the ESPN 2 uh broadcast. So I didn't get to hear hear Dave Randorf and Engblom tonight. Oh my gosh, man. I mean, PK Suban just with the like you're supposed to stay neutral. And him talking about Demi Dov got shoved into the net. I have no idea what the hell he's talking about. His outfit must have been so tight tonight that it was restraining any type of blood flow to his brain, therefore not allowing him to see correctly because Hegel got danced around and didn't touch Demi Dolph. Demi Doff was out of control. And then to say that he said something about Point hit himself with the knob of his own stick. Like what? You can clearly see Matheson taking a grand slam of a baseball swing at that puck missing and hitting a dinger off Braden Point's chin. Like it was a T. Just teed up for him perfectly. And I'm gonna be quite honest with you. I think that the ref chose not to call it. Obviously, John Cooper incensed. As a fan, I was incensed. I thought that was terrible. You cannot miss that call. It is right in front of you. And he's bleeding. Like, come on. Do better. Russ, do better. Um, the young guys on that game-winning goal, Dominic James, Gage Gonzalez, we have been looking for depth scoring. We have gotten it the last two games in some respects, and tonight for the game-winning goal. I just really loved how it was a scramble play in front of the net. We need to see more of it. The Lightning are gonna get control of the matchup in game seven. That is what they earn for finishing second in the division. They have to make the most of it. I thought early on, Montreal was giving Tampa a rough ride. Anytime they hit Tampa, anytime a Boltz player got hit along the boards tonight, it was, I mean, they were in for one along the wall. But you know what? Tampa didn't retaliate, they just kept going and going and going, and that was so good to see. I mean, they had no, they had no room for error tonight. There was a couple times where it looked like they might make a big mistake, but the big cat was there to bail them out tonight. And and it's funny because if you um if you're on the Tampa Bay Lightning Reddit, I like to do uh I like to give thoughts before each game. So I I in my game six thoughts, I had talked about how obviously the lightning had no room for error, how I wasn't necessarily banking on the bottom six being the ones to chip in to score points, and I said in that that uh I hope that I was wrong, but based on trends, that it didn't seem like that would happen, and that we were we wanted to see, I wanted to see the lightning play with more consistency throughout the duration of the game and not just in spare moments. And you know what? We got all of it, and we got that delivery, delivered an excellent performance when we needed it. I mean, if anybody see Bruce Bra saying, let's get the F out of here, they panned him when the goal was scored, and he's just steel, he's just like steel-faced. Let's get the F out of here. And then John Cooper with the one more, I don't know if he's talking to the Lightning fans that traveled or to the uh Montreal fans, but uh I'll tell you what, that that he's got the uh like there's a swagger about John Cooper, and he like he knows he has it, and you know what? It's I love it, man. Like people say he's so smug. I I I love it. He's so confident in his team, his players, and his process. And here's the thing: like I said, if it didn't go the way that the lightning won tonight, we would have definitely been sitting here and talking about, well, is it time to make changes? I I won't lie to you. You know, like this this series has been played on a knife's edge and nobody knew how it was going to turn up tonight. But I'm sure as lightning fans, we're all excited that we tuned in to watch that game and just stuck it out. Just stuck it out. And and I'll be honest with you, I mean, if if it didn't had if it didn't go the lightning's way tonight, I don't think that we could have had any complaints about their game six performance. Before that, different story. We could we could break that down. But tonight, from start to finish, they delivered and they played incredibly well. And to get that type of goal from a player like Gage Gonçalves, who I thought throughout this series, he has just been slow to process some of the plays with the puck that he's been making. Like the puck has been on his stick too long, and Montreal players are getting in position. And you know what? Tonight he parked himself in front of the net and just went to work. So it's been good. It's been good. I am hoping, not expecting, that Kucharov will continue to shoot a lot more and not defer to the passing. I and I just hope the top six guys in general will stop deferring to make the pretty pass and just play more of a direct game. I I think we need to see that. Um is now I'm not saying that I would do this. I am curious is if game seven is a Victor Hedman game. I I I don't think it's appropriate to insert him into that right now. But if you saw the Lightning's post after the game when the boys are walking into the tunnel and uh Hedy is there to congratulate them. Good to see him. Haven't seen him in such a long time. He seems to be full of uh better spirits, which is good to see. I don't know if it's appropriate to insert him into the lineup for game seven, being that it's less than forty eight hours away. But if you did, it might give the the team a boost. I just don't know. Other performances. I think Nick Paul played incredibly well tonight. And just from a face-off standpoint, I mean, I think what it was 50-50 tonight. And there were some instances where the Bolts were losing them uh fairly too easy. But there was battle in the face-off dot tonight. And and that is that is just what we wanted to see. Yeah, I mean, it was fairly even. It was 49 to 51%. I mean, Montreal won one more face-off than the Lightning did tonight. Both teams 0 for 3 on the power play. Right, Montreal 50 hits, Tampa 37, 22 block shots for Montreal, 13 for Tampa, 20 giveaways. For Montreal, 17 for uh Tampa. Shots on goal 33 to 30. Tampa had the edge in that. Man, guys, I am so excited for Game 7. Uh, this series deserves it. The fans deserve a Game 7. It sucks that one of these teams will be heading home after Sunday. Game 7 is a 6 p.m. game. And I'm I'm gonna venture to say that it's probably gonna be the only game on Sunday. Let me check the schedule really quick. As of right now, it is the only game scheduled for Sunday. Uh Vegas, which at the time of recording, they are up 1-0 late in the second period over Utah. If they win tonight, that series is over, which means that all eyes will be on Tampa and Montreal on Sunday evening at 6 p.m. Uh the NHL is doing that BS that they do where they uh start the next series before all the first round games are over with, and Saturday night, the Flyers will play the Hurricanes early at an 8 p.m. game. That I think that'll be a really good series. Uh believe it or not, there's something about the Flyers and how they've played as of late and how they got into the playoffs that I honestly thought that they would that they would bow out, but they're still in it. How about Rod Brindamore, former Flyer, former hurricane player, now coach of the Carolina Hurricanes. That should be a fun series. I hope it is anyway. Because the Dallas and Minnesota one was fun. I would have liked to, and now that the first round series are coming to an end, I would have liked to have seen uh Ottawa. It's not that they didn't put up a fight, they just couldn't buy a goal. Carolina was really good defensively, Freddie Anderson was amazing in net. And they were shutting down Ottawa's scoring opportunities and frustrating Ottawa to their ends. Now we're looking at Carolina and Philly. Buffalo won a playoff series for the first time, and however long they beat Boston, it was three to one, four to one tonight. I don't even know the score, to be quite honest with you. Didn't even pay attention. I just knew that they won the series. So they will move on. The Lightning will, or the Canadians. Let me not get ahead of myself. That will be the next opponent for either team in the second round. We're gearing up for round two, but first we gotta get game seven. And uh I I think it's gonna be a lot of fun, guys. I really do. But anyway, yeah, that's enough for tonight. I am exhausted. I did not think that a game like that, where there was no scoring, and just it it was low, no scoring, but it wasn't low event. There was a lot of activity, a lot of excellent, it was just excellent hockey. It was just playoff hockey, it was a good game to watch. It's like a uh very good defensive battle in in football. We don't really get a lot of those nowadays because they can tend to be boring. We're just so accustomed to high scoring that it you don't really ever get an opportunity to appreciate games like this, right? Where it's there's there's tactics involved, and there's players gritting it out, and there's amazing defensive plays, and the goalies are making amazing saves, 10 bell saves, and so tonight had a little bit of everything, and it's absolutely perfect. And of course, it's perfect because the lightning won. Hopefully, on Sunday after game seven, we're sitting here for a raw reaction, and the bolts are heading to round two. So that'll do me for tonight, guys. We'll talk soon. See ya.