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Lightning Round: when the Bolts are scoring, good luck stopping them

The boogeymen have arrived

New York Rangers v Tampa Bay Lightning - Game Four
TAMPA, FLORIDA - JUNE 07: Ondrej Palat #18 and Corey Perry #10 of the Tampa Bay Lightning look for the puck as Igor Shesterkin #31 of the New York Rangers makes a diving save during the first period in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amalie Arena on June 07, 2022 in Tampa, Florida.
Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Sending our condolences to Tampa Bay Lightning Assistant Coach Derek Lalonde and his family after the passing of his mom, Donna. The Lightning won it for Donna last night and hopefully can go all the way.

Quick Cap: Tampa Bay Lightning tie ECF series as top line comes alive [Raw Charge]

“The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the New York Rangers 4-1 at home in the Eastern Conference Finals to send the series back to New York with a series tied. Nikita Kucherov scored the game winner, with Pat Maroon, Steven Stamkos, and Ondřej Palat all scoring for the Lightning in the win.”

Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos, and Ondrej Palat each have two goals in the last two games, scoring six of the seven goals scored for the Lightning. Throughout the entire playoffs they have kept up the symmetry with seven goals each in 15 games. Those 21 goals in 15 games have been critical to the Lightning winning in the playoffs, especially against the Rangers. Meanwhile the ever-important fourth line has a combined 10 goals in the playoffs, adding supporting scoring when it’s needed most.

It’s true, the Lightning are the boogeyman.

Brayden Point could make his return late in the series. Jon Cooper cryptically noting that he could force his way back in in a Game 7 scenario. The way I read this is if the Lightning were almost out of the series (ie. down 3-1 in Game 5) they wouldn’t try and push Point to play and possibly further injure him. But if there’s a chance to win and they need him in a Game 7, they’ll talk about risking it. This tells me he probably shouldn’t come back in this series, but he might anyway.

The Montreal Canadiens have hired Canadian superstar Marie-Philip Poulin as a consultant. It’s expected she’ll be with the team until she signs a contract with the soon-to-be-named PWHPA league team in Montreal. NHL teams partnering with the women’s hockey league is still on the table, with an “original six” likely to be created to start.

The Canadian government is holding hearings over Hockey Canada’s coverup of the sexual assault scandal involving eight players from the U20 World Juniors team from 2018.