Habs hold on to win Game 5 and put the Bolts on the brink | TSN Postgame Hot Zone

Thank you.Alongside Carla Koliakova, Frankie Corrado, and our hockey insider, Darren Drager.It's one of those series where it comes down to execution.and a little bit of luck.And tonight, it's a missed chance by one of the world's best players in Nikita Kucherov.And that leads to a goal by a bottom six player that ends up deciding this one for the Habs.

It's a great example of things that have been the case in this series.The seesaw continues back and forth.It's been such a slim margin for error and missed opportunities.And if you're on the wrong end of it, chances are the other team is on the right end of it.And for the Montreal Canadiens, they were on the right end of it this time around, This puck goes right to the tape of Nikita Kucherov, but it bounces right over.That's the difference.

And then shortly afterwards, still early in the third period, an unbelievable stretch pass by Lane Hudson catches the Tampa Bay Lightning on a slow change.And Alex Texier, who has been excellent in this series on a line with Zach Balduc and Kirby Dock, takes a shot from distance and beats Andrei Vasilevsky.And now Andrei Vasilevsky coming into this game had an 882 save percentage.He gave up three on 23 on 24 tonight.He looks ordinary, not the Vesna caliber Vasilevsky that we saw this season.

By the way, what a pass by Hudson.I marveled at that one.But just to follow on your point of Vasilevsky, I watched that goal.And remember coming into the series, everybody said, who gets the edge?Is it Tampa?Is it Montreal?

Tampa, the veteran team that got the better goalie in net?Hasn't been the case so far this year.That's not a Vasilevsky goal that he lets in.I mean, it goes right off of his glove.Tessier makes a great shot, but to me the bigger story is Montreal was on the better end of the bounces, but Wasilewski has not been himself for the Tampa Bay Lady.

You know, you give credit where credit is due, and that's to the players who execute and play the game defensively, offensively.So, you know, the depth of the Montreal Canadiens offensively has come to the forefront now through five games of this series.But how about a little bit of love to management of the Montreal Canadiens?I mean, Alex Taxier was done, dead and buried with the St. Louis Blues organization.They terminated his contract.The Canadians, Ken Hughes looks at this guy and goes, you know what, there's something, you know, maybe there's a fit there.

Were they counting on him to score two enormous goals in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs against a decorated team like the Lightning?Probably not.But he's got a whale of confidence in him right now and he's he's going to be a factor moving forward depending on how deep this team goes.

It's another example of their coach finding a way to coach the individual and get more out of him.Like Alex Texier has been one of those guys Marty St. Louis trust.He plays up and down the lineup.He plays some specialty minutes for them.He can extend plays in the offensive zone.Like a lot of that has to do with the coach trusting you believing you saying.

go out and have that confidence and sure enough here he is in the playoffs having a massive moment and now the Montreal Canadiens one win away from beating the Tampa Bay Lightning.

It's amazing how much the word trust.can play a factor.You gotta earn it though, right?

You do, you absolutely do.And it's really tough to use the word momentum because it's really, within the games, just when you think a team has the upper hand, the opposing team has done a really good job in responding.And no better example than that tonight was Kirby Dock's goal 11 seconds after the 1 -1 goal.

Yeah, and you felt like when Tampa scored that goal, Maybe that was their sign of gaining back some of the momentum in the game that maybe they felt like they lost the crowd was getting back into it and credit to Marty St. Louis.He goes to maybe what we project as their third line, maybe their fourth line.He throws Doc out.He brings a big face off.Sorry, this is the goal right here that they give up to Tampa Bay.You know, again, it's off a mistake at the blue line, but here goes Doc at the blue at the center ice wins the face off.

It's a quick transition play up.It's a puck battle that's won in the offensive zone.And look at this power move by Kirby Doc to take it to the net.I mean, what an impact.he's had in this series.I remember after game two, there was people talking about, maybe they should take him out of the lineup.

Maybe they should bring in other guys that will have more of an impact.He's had a great impact so far and a big impact in this game with that goal.

Now has two goals in the series.We're now getting reaction from the Canadians following their victory.Let's head now to Tampa and hear from Kirby Dog, who's new on SC.

You played the last three and a half minutes of the game.

Yeah, Phil's been awesome for us all year.I mean, ever since he's kind of came in.He's really studied our lineup, I mean, as a young centerman.There's so much you can learn from him and how good he is on draws and how responsible he is on the ice.And it's definitely a treat to have.And it's also his veteran leadership and his presence in the room and on the bench.

He's able to kind of calm things down and help us out.And if we need a shift, he's willing to go out there, put a puck in deep, go to work, and create momentum for the next line to get out there and score.It's not always every night he's on the score sheet, but he impacts the game in a positive way for us each and every night.

What about the confidence that's going with the game?the secondary scoring that's gone through?

Yeah.I think if you look at our lineup or ask anybody in this room, everybody's comfortable being a goal scorer or a point producer.But sometimes that's not what the game asks of you.And for our line, we just want to continue to play the same game each and every night and be consistent on the forward check and play a good 200 -foot game.And when we do get rewarded, it's obviously nice.

Thank you.

So interesting hearing from Kirby Doc learning from Philip to know as the centerman that the Canadians have been hoping that he would become as soon as they acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks.And in this series there's been some really bright moments for that line.

There really has been.And I find it interesting there that Kirby Doc says as a young centerman like there's been a lot of talk about is he a centerman on this team.Is he better suited to be a winger.Well...So there you just heard it.He believes he's a centerman.

He's taking notes from the other centerman and he's obviously having some success.And this line that Marty St. Louis put together has been excellent.You go back to Game 3.Both Doc and Texier have a goal and an assist.And Bolduc has two assists in that game.Now you fast forward and we're in a situation where the depth players are winning this series for the Montreal Canadiens.

Eight of the nine goals at five on five that Montreal has scored have been from bottom six players.And there's Kirby Doc doing it again tonight.You love the response that they have in -game, but you love the response that they have playing on the same line that Marty St. Louis basically says, go out and do it.Like, Kirby Doc didn't have a great time and great game, too.Go ahead and go show us something.Zach Balduc has had his ups and downs.

Yeah.Go help each other out and empower each other.And they've done that and they've been very effective playing a direct straight line powerful game.

You know when you lose in the playoffs it's the coach's ownership to make line changes.And I think they made a couple today inserting Gallagher into the lineup.But that's one line he didn't touch.He didn't touch because he saw something good in them and they've been bringing it every time they're on the ice they're feeding off each other and they're producing.And you talked about it Frankie.The difference in winning the series is what you get out of your bottom six forwards.

Your top forwards are going to even each other out.And I think Tampa's top forwards have out -produced Montreal's top forwards.But the difference in this series for Montreal is the production for getting a line like that with Doc leading the way.

As has been the case all series long, Josh Anderson was all over the place in Game 5.Let's go back to Montreal's room and hear from the Canadiens board, who's new on SC.

Um, no, I thought, uh, you know, we were structured.We had a game plan going into the last, you know, a couple of minutes and, um, you know, I thought we executed pretty good.yeah you know we've we've come a long way you know we've we've been over it many times of what we need to do to you know lock games down and sometimes it hasn't gone our way but you know I think we we dial it in you know in the last you know a couple days and really in this series of just you know talking about it more and you know being structurally strong and everyone know what's going on.

What did you feel Gallagher was able to bring to the team today?

Just what he does best, honestly.Just his presence, his energy.You know what he's going to bring on the ice every time he puts on that sweater.It was very exciting to see him get a goal on the first shift there and give our team a boost.It's good to have him in the lineup.Huge.

I mean, what a response, right?You know, tough one when they scored one late in the second period.But, you know, we just kept pushing and obviously a huge goal for Docker.You know, he stepped up his game and he's played some really good hockey.Yeah.I don't know.

It was, like you said, it was tight.You know, it's you can't make too many of them because you know if you do they got some guys over there that can that can really hurt you you know same same with our team so there's not much room there in the neutral zone we're trying to do everything we can to you know for check and you know create space for for skilled guys and and obviously you know defending hard when we can and but you know it's it's it's great series it's it's fun to play in Josh Anderson leading the Canadiens with four hits tonight and leading the

way in net Jakub Dobish with a 38 save performance in game five.

Yeah, I mean.

Loves to, you know, this guy is really good for us on a PK.I feel like offensively, that line was pretty good too, or whichever line he played on.Faceoffs, I feel like he won a lot.So just an all -around player that has a lot of experience, even between the periods he was telling us what to do and how to feel and just experience.It's really good to have him in our locker room.

How did you live those last two and a half minutes?

Yeah, I mean, I've just tried to make saves.I feel like I saw a lot of pucks and yeah, that's just competing and seeing the puck and yeah, that's it.I don't have much more.

We spent much of this season asking the question, would the Canadiens get goaltending to have success in the postseason and who would they get it from?And Jakub Dobysz answered that question down the stretch.Can we say that he's outplaying Andre Vasilevsky so far in this series?

Without a doubt.I mean, we've got to remind ourselves.This guy is 24 years old and he's not playing like he's a young goaltender net.He's a rookie.It's his first playoff experience and he's going against one of the best playoff performers in NHL history and Andre Vasiliski.But what what has made Jakub Dovish so great of all season and even great in this playoffs is he just looks so calm with his demeanor in the net.

He's big.He's confident and he just makes the saves that he's steady sees.If he sees it, he's going to stop it.The guys in front of him do a good job.job of clearing out second and third chances, and he talked about it in his scrum.He just battles.

And if you're the Montreal Canadiens, that's what you love to see out of a guy like this, is no matter howold he is, you go in the net, you give your team a chance to win every night, and you just battle for each other, and it just feeds off.the rest of the team.

He's a confident goalie.He challenges.He goes out to play the puck.Sometimes it can look like a little bit of an adventure.

Candles and some defensemen.

No kidding.And it's honestly as a defenseman it's nice to know that there's a goalie back there.They play the puck and help you out a little bit.But his season really changed when Montreal changed their goalie coach and all of a sudden things looked a little more compact for him.He wasn't reaching for the play but he was still being aggressive.He still maintained his identity in net and he has the confidence to know that he can the door against a very potent Tampa Bay Lightning team.

Dregs you gave some love to the management for the Alex Texier acquisition.Should we start giving some love to the coaching staff getting Brendan Gallagher in the lineup for Game 5.Yeah.

And this certainly isn't a criticism of Marty St. Louis or the coaching staff.But I'm actually a little surprised that Gallagher didn't make his way into this series early early to be fair.Look I mean he is a tremendous teammate.The experience is obvious.He's doing everything within his power when he's not in the lineup to be a good teammate and push some of that experience.But he brings that energy.

right?And you know that if there's a play at the net, guess where Brandon Gallagher is going to be.He's going to be right there at the net.Now, normally he's crashing towards the goalie, but in this case, it's Alex Newhook who does the majority of the work.There's a loose puck in front of Vasilevsky, and Gallagher is in the right spot at the right time to open the scoring.So look, it's a different look.

So it's not just about the energy and the experience that he brings to that lineup in game five.It's also showing the Tampa Bay Lightning that, hey, we've got more than one or two tricks up our sleeve.

I totally agree with that.And Marty St. Louis talked about the Tampa Bay Lightning during the regular season.And he said playing them is like a chess match.And I wonder if he saw this whole series as a long chess match and said, I got a move that I'm going to play.out only when the time is right.And the number I'm thinking of.

is four.And I'll tell you why.Because Brendan Gallagher was a healthy scratch at times this season.He missed the last four games of the regular season minus the last one against the Philadelphia Flyers.And he comes into that game.Yes Phil he's dressing a skeleton roster because they had already clinched the playoffs.

But you could tell Brendan Gallagher had a little something to prove.He was playing for a playoff audition.He scores in that game.Now Brendan Gallagher misses four games in a row.And what does he do early on in this shift.He comes in and scores.

scores in this game.So Marty St. Louis playing chess while everyone is playing checkers.And he says I know when to put Brendan Gallagher in the lineup and he needs to miss four games in order to come in and score a goal.

I mean look at how that third period then ended to in favor of the Canadians.I mean.And through much of that third period, the coaching staff had the blender out from Montreal.

It was just go out and no lines.It was just next guy over the boards.

And just to speak of Gallagher, last game we praised Brandon Hagel for the player he is in the playoffs.Right.The same can be said about Brandon Gallagher.He's a gamer when it comes to playoffs.Right.You know what you're going to get out of the guy.

He's going to play with heart.He's going to play with spirit.And he's going to inject an energy into the group.And I heard during the broadcast, too, that even though he wasn't playing, He was still so involved in the team conversations that were in the intermission during the games you know after the games you know given guys little bits of information.Now you inject him into the lineup and he starts the game like that.

It instills a belief in the group.I understand that.But you guys as players I mean isn't it harder to do that.When you're not in the lineup, when you're on the bench and you're in the room and you're invested because you're a participant, that experience for me goes a lot farther.

You feel more credible when you're in the battle, but Brendan Gallagher doesn't need the extra credibility.Fair.I think he's earned that.over the course of his career for sure.

All right, so the Lightning will need another win on the road to extend this series as they're now down three games to two.Let's hear from their head coach, John Cooper, who's new on SC.

Cooper, I asked you about the beginning of the game earlier today.I wanted to ask you tonight after the game what you saw to start the game and what is it that's kind of led to some of these slow starts for you guys, especially at home?I mean, that's hard to explain.

I mean, it was, what, the fourth shift of the game?And, you know, it's, I can't say it was a tough bounce.We just sat there and watched, got beat to the net, and it's won nothing.And, you know, it's just, it's a tough way to start.There's no doubt.By no means was that, you know, the game.

But especially in these tight -checking, low -scoring games, you can't be given freebies.And I thought we gave up a freebie there.

John, you talked this morning about how, you know, not your whole team are veterans.You have a lot of guys experiencing this for the first time.But, you know, tonight you did have some of your veterans, you know, who I thought struggled to some degree.Is that worrisome at this point of the series, given what you've seen their body of work over the years, where you just expect something?

Yeah.I mean, it was, I mean, we just lost it.Game five.So, you know, there's lots going on in my head right now.Did I think we had our best game?We clearly did not.

Is it really disappointing to come home and lose?It is.You know, this is something we should take a ton of pride in and dig our heels in and not accept.Now, listen, do we have some chances of winning?tie it, and we hit some posts.And this is the game, the margin of the game.

Radish hits the post.An open net, Puk just bounces over Kuch's stick.And like 40 seconds later, in the same, basically, end, back, end, and it's in our net.And so you just feel, you know.It was a little deflating at that point, at the start of the period, for that to happen.But I thought we gave ourselves chances to score.

We just didn't.Can we do some things better?There's no question.But the fact that we kept going down, we had to keep chasing the game, that's not a recipe for success.

Pierre asked you about your veterans on the team.For the young guys, the next game might be really nerve -wracking.So how important are going to be those veterans who've been there before in that situation?

I mean, you don't really know how you're going to act until you are in the situation.And I understand that the next game is an elimination game, a potential elimination game.But the last game we played in there was we lose that one, we're down 3 -1.You're really chasing the series.So we've had some guys, they've been in that building twice now, and they probably have a pretty good feeling of what to expect.So how it's going to go, I can't say for sure, but I'll bet we play better than we did tonight.

You sort of alluded.Over the last couple of days, one mistake could be the difference in the series.Obviously, that's one Andre's probably going to want to have back.What do you say to him in a situation like that, when that one goes in?

Listen, I don't play the position.I think the position.one of the toughest positions in the sports.And the fact that we had ample time to get another one back, but I didn't.It stems way before that.It doesn't stem by the time Texier gets down the ice.

It stems from the change, and how we went about it, and the mistakes we made on the way there.And forever, all Vassie does is bail us out of those when He has them.I think the rare time, sometimes he doesn't.But he should have never got that deep into our zone.And he got a lot on it.So it wasn't like Vassie got beat.

He had it.It just took a Montreal bounce.And so it was a little unfortunate for us.But like I said, we had ample time and ample chances to tie it, and we didn't.

John, just wondering, when you thought that Dick Paul might be unavailable to play and maybe how that Or didn't adjust or affect how you the lines that you want to put out there Yeah, well, I didn't know he wasn't playing till like literally an hour before the game So that was a little unexpected but again that didn't affect Okay, so John Cooper asked a few times about his stars and his goaltender and Understandably doesn't seem too concerned about any of them given their track record as they move forward They go to the Bell Center, a place where I guess they have some comfort that they've won before as they face elimination in game six.

Yeah, and they should.I mean, they're an experienced team, and they should feel confident that they have the guys to get it done.But I want to go back to some of the stuff that he said in his press conference.He talked about the start of this game, game five, where four shifts into the game, they found themselves down 1 -0.And you go back to game four, and we talked about the TSN turning point in that game.It was the big hit on Slavkoski, and Tampa Bay used that momentum to push it.

in that game and win the game.And we talked about, does the momentum carry over from game to game?I think Montreal scoring the first goal in this game... eliminated any talk of any momentum that Tampa Bay might have had for sure.

And you know what this feels like a series that would be hard to coach because so many times you're looking for trends.What is happening often that we can address.And if you look at what happens to John Cooper and his team tonight it's like there's a bounce in front that new hook brings to the net Gallagher scores and then Kirby Dock takes advantage of a forward playing D individual effort.He scores and then a bad line change.If you're trying to coach that you're saying.These are just one -off random events that happen, so you try and coach the trends, but the trends aren't necessarily coming back to bite you.

I didn't think that Cooper tried to sugarcoat Game 5, though, right?I mean, he said, look, our team wasn't... at its best.We talked about this when watching the game.They weren't crisp.I mean, passes that they routinely make as a unit in the offensive zone weren't tape to tape.Not very often.

Now, you can give credit to the Montreal Canadiens for that.But this team, with the veteran leadership that they have, obviously needs to be better.And he's not going to call out Andrei Vasilevsky.Come on, he's got to make that save on Texan.Yeah, he was in the glove.

It was a Montreal bounce, but Vas, he's got to make that save.

Brandon Hagel got a Tampa bounce off his face.That's true.That's the nature of this series.Montreal gets the first and last goal of this game, courtesy of Brendan Gallagher and Alex Texe.Both players are now at the podium speaking.

What do you think about tonight's win?

Yeah, I mean, it's obviously exciting.The guys have been playing great hockey.It's been a fun series to watch.And coming in, I just tried to follow their lead, find a way to contribute.And I thought I was able to do that.But the group right now is really dialed in, playing some really solid hockey.

and it's fun to be a part of.

Brendan, after the last game of this season, you spoke like a guy who probably knew that maybe he wasn't starting in the playoff.Can you describe a little bit what you went through over the last few days in watching this from afar?

I mean, it's the same now as it was my first year in the league.You just take nothing for granted.And I know how good this group is, I know how deep they are, and so opportunities are... to be limited doesn't mean they're not going to come.You just got to be ready when they do.And like I said, it's a really talented group.It's a very deep group.

And we have a lot of guys that can get the job done.And when your number's called, you just want to make sure that you're accountable to your teammates and get the job done as well.

How can you describe the emotions of putting that puck in the net from right where you've made a living for a long time?

I mean, obviously fortunate.But I think that's where you go, especially this time of year.I think Nui does an unbelievable job on that play.He really creates it.Like I said, fortunate enough to be in the right place at the right time, but you do that over and over enough, you'll get rewarded.Yeah, it's excitement.

You think of a lot of things, obviously.For me, I think of my mom.I think of people in my life that meant a lot to me, and there's a little moment where you enjoy it, and you think of those things, and then you get right back to playing the game.

Yeah, Kirby.Kirby described you coming out of a scrum with your bucket on the ice, a cut on your face.He says, well, that's galley one -on -one hockey.What, to you, is galley one -on -one hockey?

I mean, that's fun.And I got some catching up to do.These guys have had some fun and been able to enjoy it.That's what this time of year is all about.And it's just, like I said, you grind all season to have this opportunity.You just want to enjoy it.

You can't get lost.And the important thing is to enjoy it.everything.You can't forget to have fun, and that's definitely part of it.I think Tex wants to talk.

No, no.

He did answer some questions in French.You'd almost be more surprised if Gallagher didn't have a cut under his eye in the first game.

Battle scars.He's the freshest guy in the lineup right now.Frankie, they go back home now with a chance to move on to the second round.These are the things that you work towards in a series.And given that atmosphere and that fan base, The first couple of minutes is really going to tell us a lot about game six.

You have to keep your composure in that situation because if he thought the building was loud before check again, it's going to be even louder.And the depth players for Montreal have put them in this position.They've defended extremely well for a team that maybe throughout the course of the regular season didn't defend as well as some of the teams that were in the same spots as them.But now the top line has an opportunity to produce at five on five and have the series clincher on home ice.just watching the game.My ears are going to be crazy.

It's going to be adrenaline is going to be pumping through the roof.I think for Montreal, the most important thing is you talked about it.control your emotions.They've got to find a way to control their emotions because they're going to be ramping pretty high.

Yeah.And look, I mean, they played well defensively, the Montreal Canadiens.I mean, both teams have played pretty snug here, but there's always plays in little areas that you can fine tune, like the Matheson play that led to the Gensel goal to tie the game at two from an experience.I'm not piling on Mike Matheson here.I'm just saying that that's a play when you've got a team like Tampa Lightning on the ropes in an elimination game.you cannot puff air into them.

You can't.That was unforced.They'll tighten up.

No unforced errors next game.

You can't have it.And we thought the building was loud.Games 3 and 4 at the Bell Centre.As it shifts back to Montreal, the Canadiens againaway from advancing to the second round for the first time since their Stanley Cup final run back in 2021.