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Quick Strikes: The Bolts clean out their lockers at Amalie Arena

The players officially emptied their lockers for the year, Kucherov gave a super brief interview, and Point was named third star of the week.

The Bolts

Before we get to the sad stuff, Brayden Point was named the NHL's third star of the week!

"While there were positives to draw upon in the Lightning's remarkable late-season run, the bottom line is it failed its goal of reaching the playoffs. For a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, that's a sobering, stinging feeling that'll last all summer." [Tampa Bay Times]

"The Tampa Bay Lightning's offseason begins a month and a half earlier than last year. The Bolts finished with 94 points, just three fewer than their 2016 team that reached the Eastern Conference Finals, but they won't be in the playoffs." [Bay News 9]

Yesterday was locker clean out day which means lots and lots of player interviews - and therefore lots and lots of transcripts.

Tyler Johnson: "We’re already motivated. This is a crummy feeling - no one likes this. I think you saw at the end of the year how motivated we were to get into the playoffs and really make a run. It’s what we’re going to be working for all summer. I know every day I’m going to be thinking about it." [Raw Charge]

Alex Killorn: "You realize that making the playoffs is really tough in this league. With the parity in the league, it’s difficult. We just have to be ready and have that sense of urgency throughout the entire season." [Raw Charge]

Nikita Kucherov: "I mean we didn’t make the playoffs. That’s the big thing. I don’t think about my goals." [Raw Charge]

Ondrej Palat: "We had to play better in the first half of the season. The second half of the season was great, but you can’t make the playoffs in this league if you’re not going to play the whole season." [Raw Charge]

Andrej Sustr: "I think it’s still kind of early to see, but there’s definitely going to be some evaluation and see what we could’ve done better or whatnot." [Raw Charge]

The Prospects

More reinforcements sent down to the Syracuse Crunch for their playoff run: Cory Conacher, Jake Dotchin, Gabriel Dumont, Adam Erne, and Yanni Gourde. [Tampa Bay Lightning]

The Game

"The Los Angeles Kings did not wait long to make changes after missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Head coach Darryl Sutter and Dean Lombardi are out, both relieved of duties by Kings’ ownership." [Jewels From the Crown]

"The Florida Panthers have righted last summer’s biggest blunder by reinstating Dale Tallon to the general manager position a day after the club finished the disappointing 2016-17 season." [Litter Box Cats]

"After three seasons yielding a single playoff berth and two disappointing/injury riddled years, the Vancouver Canucks have decided to move forward without Willie Desjardins." [Nucks Misconduct]

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