GDT: 6/28/21 - 8:00PM EDT - Montréal vs Tampa Bay [SCF GAME 1]

[Volodya Krutov]

Yeah well. Tough thing to prove imo. At that point it is a more an opinion than anything else. For me it’s Vasi, Price, Hellebuyck. But let’s not forget the teams playing in front of them are not the same. Vasi plays for a powerhouse team and a great defense. Habs D, while playing well in the playoffs, is average at best and Jets D is simply atrocious.

For the record Eddie is irrelevant to me, and probably to all of us Bolts fans. This is a guy who absolutely glorified Mayfield's dirty crosscheck on Kucherov just saying. That being said, I was surprised he was so categorical about the best goalie situation, because to me that's too close to call between our guys.

Bonne journée à toi.

 

[Hoek]

Apparently Edmonton really hates Tampa? Don't know what that's about but okay!

Jealous we draft way better than their stupid asses.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

**** Edmonton.

 

[Peacefool]

Great Game! Great Win!! GG Bolts!

 

[LightningStrikes]

Well yeah that sounds about right. Personally I'd prefer Andrej Sustr much more anchoring our defence.

User name checks out

 

[LightningStrikes]

All three of Montreal’s second line were -3

 

[LaScheifers]

This jets fan is cheering for you guys...please win!!

 

[Benstheman]

All three of Montreal’s second line were -3

Yep. The kids got their asses kicked this time. That’s good experience for them. They will adjust and get better matchups while playing at home.

 

[HoseEmDown]

We have to protect Gourde, right?

Would suck to lose him but would be great if Seattle took him. We wouldn't be forced to pay to dump Johnson. We could trade Palat for value and move Johnson and Colton up to the 3rd line with Joseph. Maroon - Stephens - Katchouk/Raddysh 4th line. Barre-Boulet gets first bracket at Palats spot.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

 

[BoltzManConstant]

Yep. The kids got their asses kicked this time. That’s good experience for them. They will adjust and get better matchups while playing at home.

Suzuki was a major liability in the Habs' d zone. I don't see any way for y'all to protect him, given how relentless our forecheck is across all four lines.

But Montreal still probably finds a way to squeeze out two wins before the series is over.

 

[JoVel]

Just checked my schedule: if we were to sweep the Habs I won't have have to leave for work at any morning after the game. Wouldn't be able to watch game 5 live if we get there.

Just saying. I trust ya Lightning.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

One thing I will say in favor of the Habs fans on this board (and I could be wrong, but from what I've seen it is so), UNLIKE some Islander fans, they aren't chirping incessantly about stupid things like cap circumvention or anything else not really related to the actual play of the players on the ice.

I hate to say it because I actually HAVE enjoyed watching Islander games this season and have even rooted for them a bit during the regular season when they face certain other teams (something I DON'T really do for the Canadiens), but the Montreal fans have, from what I can tell, focused mostly on what goes on on the actual ice rather than start building up excuses for other things that are irrelevant to the compete levels on the ice.

Saw a bit of that from Panthers fans, Canes fans, but seems Islander fans really played up the whole "Bolts are cheaters" spiel.
Perhaps it is a by-product of losing to the same team in Conference Finals two years running? Maybe...

But refreshing to see a fanbase bash our players based on what they see on the ice (and yea, I am ok with them bashing our players)....not what may or may not be going on in the league's offices.

 

[Hoek]

Yeah they aren't too bad. Only thing is they are extremely into their Cinderella narrative and get touchy if you imply that we're any different or better than their other opponents. We're just supposed to be ripe for the upset just like every other team.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Islanders fans were definitely the worst of the bunch, even more than Florida. I still don't understand their obsession with being louder than everyone else, it's like some kind status symbol for New Yorkers. I guess yelling over people means you're right there, so the same thing applies to sports crowds.

Some of them were cool though.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

Yeah they aren't too bad. Only thing is they are extremely into their Cinderella narrative and get touchy if you imply that we're any different or better than their other opponents. We're just supposed to be ripe for the upset just like every other team.

Well, then....the Bolts can be "ripe" all they want.
But do the Canadiens have the ability to 'pick' that fruit...THAT is the real question.

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

Last night feels like a double victory for the Bolts. Not only did we win, but maybe more importantly we put 5 goals past Price. I think if you're the Habs you can deal with a loss and still feel good about yourselves if Price plays amazing and the Bolts struggle. That protects this idea everyone's been feeding us about Price being godly. Their whole run has been built around a single strength. That gives them life, and it feels like we've taken that away the first night of the series.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl2]

Last night feels like a double victory for the Bolts. Not only did we win, but maybe more importantly we put 5 goals past Price. I think if you're the Habs you can deal with a lose and still feel good about yourselves if Price plays amazing and the Bolts struggle. That protects this idea everyone's been feeding us about Price being godly. Their whole run has been built around that. That gives them life, and it feels like we've taken that away the first night of the series.

I'm just glad the Lightning came out full force for a Game 1, finally!

I think its been our team's M.O. to start off slowly in a series...especially with all the HOOOOOOOPLAAAAA going on with introductions and such.
Team looked like they ignored all that mess and just focused on the white n red sweaters in front of them.

Good for them!

 

[TheDaysOf 04]

57 hits by the Bolts last night. 58 hits by the Habs

Coleman - 11
Cirelli - 8
Goodrow - 7
Sergachev - 5
Stamkos - 4

Going back to last year's finals, Bolts racked up 51, 54, 56, 57, and 64 hits in 5 of the 6 games. The only game under 50 hits for us was the 2-0 game 6 Cup winner.

The top 3 hit collectors from last years finals for the Bolts? Coleman, Cirelli, and Goodrow.

 

[Rschmitz]

57 hits by the Bolts last night. 58 hits by the Habs

Coleman - 11
Cirelli - 8
Goodrow - 7
Sergachev - 5
Stamkos - 4

Going back to last year's finals, Bolts racked up 51, 54, 56, 57, and 64 hits in 5 of the 6 games. The only game under 50 hits for us was the 2-0 game 6 Cup winner.

The top 3 hit collectors from last years finals for the Bolts? Coleman, Cirelli, and Goodrow.

I definitely expected this. If your goal is the Cup your job isn't just to win the first three series, it's to save up your body in order to beat the breaks off the other team in the Finals. Montreal especially is susceptible to physical play.

 

[LTIR Trickery]

They played well. Montreal played okay, and tried to make some changes but didn't really know how yet. The first major change I saw was them in the early second start to throw some 2-3 man presses, 1 coming down the wall to the D and the other coming across the circle from the slot to the D) to cut off that quick chip off the wall to another D or a dropping forward. This is a good idea but I think the kids out there (Caufield, Suzuki, Kotkaniemi (sp?)) were just getting physically outworked. I think you might see Montreal try to match that line against some of our slower D to see if they can take advantage.

I thought I would be worried about the Danault line but when you see the guy with only 3 points in 18 so far, its hard to not shrug them off. Anderson and Gallagher did what they do well. I expect Montreal to play a lot more tight, but not necessarily more threatening, if that makes sense. Its a short series, get a good start tomorrow.

 

[BoltSTH]

With all the posts about last year's and this year's cup needing an asterisk next to it, it is only fair that all cups awarded before expansion (i.e.O6 teams ) should have '* limited partition' or '* Only 2 rounds of playoffs''

 

[DrMartinVanNostrand]

Last night feels like a double victory for the Bolts. Not only did we win, but maybe more importantly we put 5 goals past Price. I think if you're the Habs you can deal with a loss and still feel good about yourselves if Price plays amazing and the Bolts struggle. That protects this idea everyone's been feeding us about Price being godly. Their whole run has been built around a single strength. That gives them life, and it feels like we've taken that away the first night of the series.

And, on top of that, it's not like Price played poorly. He made some impressive saves and wasn't really to blame for any of the five goals (three of them being deflections, one of them a screen, and maybe the Stamkos goal should've been stopped, but it was immaterial to the outcome by that point anyway). So Price played fairly well...and still saw five pucks get past him. Tha would trouble me if I'm Montréal.

 

[Machinehead]

Please enjoy these very silly Brayden Point analytics



In layman's terms, everything he shoots is a high-quality chance.

 

[BoltsOfAnarchy]

That confirms it, Price is just as overrated as I always thought he was.

or Carey Price saw the wokeness writing on the wall....was just trying to get ahead of it by throwing him a bone