The Tampa Bay Lightning are down 0-1 in their first round series with the New York Rangers after a lacklustre performance on defense and a worryingly futile showing on offense. [Raw Charge]
“The Lightning looked flat from the get-go and never found their footing. Andrei Vasilevskiy looked average, allowing all six goals on 34 shots. Stamkos and Palat scored the goals for the Lightning as the Bolts power play went 0/3. The Rangers power play meanwhile scored on one of their two chances.”
After the game, both Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman spoke after the game about what went wrong and the changes they need to make.
#Bolts Stamkos: “Too many turnovers and execution wasn’t there tonight. We have to respond. We’ve been in this position before and I’m confident our group is going to have a much better effort next game.”#TBLvsNYR
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) June 2, 2022
#Bolts Stamkos: “We have to be better. There’s areas that we’re going to improve on and it’s Game 1 of a long series. Like I said, you’ve got to give them credit. I think there’s areas that we can improve and we will improve.”#TBLvsNYR
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) June 2, 2022
#Bolts Victor Hedman on the second period: “They had 17 shots and we’ve got to help Vasy a little bit better than we did in that period. Like I said, we’ll bounce back…They played a good game and really executed there in the second period…We’ll be better next game.”#TBLvsNYR
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) June 2, 2022
#Bolts Hedman: “We’ve done a great job in previous playoff runs and this playoff as well. You never want to lose two in a row in a playoff series. For us to bounce back is going to be huge…We’re a strong group mentally and we’ll bounce back.”#TBLvsNYR
— Chris Krenn (@Chris_Krenn) June 2, 2022
Reinforcements are on the way as Brayden Point has begun skating again. He was taking optional morning skate ahead of Game 1. There’s a good chance we see him within the next few games.
Big development here at Madison Square Garden ahead of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final.
Brayden Point is skating following an optional Tampa Bay Lightning morning skate. pic.twitter.com/vvLDH5JBFI
— Emily Kaplan (@emilymkaplan) June 1, 2022
The Montreal Canadiens have confirmed Martin St. Louis will be their head coach next season, signing a three-year contract.
OFFICIAL: Martin St-Louis is the 32nd head coach in Canadiens history#GoHabsGo https://t.co/g0lQseG2a3
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) June 1, 2022
Anze Kopitar won the NHL’s leadership award. I don’t know what it is either.
The recipient of the 2021-22 Mark Messier NHL Leadership Award is… 🥁@AnzeKopitar of the @LAKings! Congratulations, Anze! 👑 #NHLAwards pic.twitter.com/Hq7rgxbWpO
— NHL (@NHL) June 2, 2022
The animal I would say is human being. I’m smart, I can use my thumbs, and I can move with only two legs.
NHL Scouting Combine: A popular question by some NHL clubs looking to catch a prospect off guard during the interviews is what animal would best describe him as a hockey player. Most say ‘lion.’ Juraj Slafkovsky today told me he responded ‘Wolf’.
— Mike Morreale (@mikemorrealeNHL) June 1, 2022
Game 2 between the Avalanche and Oilers is tonight at 8pm on TNT and CBC.
