Hello and good morning everyone. It’s Justin, your faithful managing editor of Raw Charge. For the fourth year in a row, we’ve come to this point a little too early in the spring. With the Lightning getting bounced from the first round of the playoffs yet again, we all face an off-season that starts in May instead of June. Which is a bummer. That means I have to come up with a few extra weeks of interesting posts to keep y’all interested and reading.
It was a good season for the website a...
After a monster season that saw him record 22 goals and 70 points in 73 games, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh is set to land him a big payday this offseason. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could look to sign Raddysh if the Bolts do not re-sign him. Toronto Maple Leafs The Maple Leafs need another right-shot defenseman, so it would not be surprising if they looked to add Raddysh in free agency. He has already been connected to the Leafs in the past and wo...
Blue Jays 1 Rays 5 That was a very frustrating game. The Jays had ten hits, but just one extra base hit, a double by Yohendrick Piñango. It is hard to have 10 hits and only get one run. You really have to work at it. And, the Rays scored three in the first. Eric […]
Hot off yet another home series sweep, the Rays welcomed the Blue Jays to Tropicana Field for the opener of a three-game series. Nick Martinez starts the series opener, bringing a 1.70 ERA into the game after six starts on the season. Start number seven began with a one-pitch flyout, and ended without a runner […]
So the Jays don’t appear to be using an opener today, it is Eric Lauer right from the first pitch. Let’s have a good start Eric. And there is no Heineman or Springer. Springer is supposed to be available off the bench and he’s supposed to be starting tomorrow. We’ll see I guess. That ball […]
Go Rays!
It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team many pundits around the sport predicted to come out of the Eastern Conference. Instead, a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round (despite outshooting them 29-9) has left many questions facing the Bolts as they head into the offseason. Perhaps one question we didn't see coming, though, comes to us from insider Pierre LeBrun , who asks in The Athletic, if the Hart Trophy con...
There is a whole mess of injury news this afternoon: Today’s lineup is similar to yesterday’s, minus Sosa and Heineman, and Varsho is DH today. He was having some better at bats yesterday. Hopefully that will continue. Today’s Lineups BLUE JAYS RAYS Yohendrick Pinango – LF Chandler Simpson – LF Kazuma Okamoto – 3B Junior […]
As has been speculated since his acquisition, and propitiated by the season ending hip surgery required by Ryan Pepiot, the Rays have formally started the transition of Griffin Jax to a starting role, and in doing so Jax has reintroduced his cutter. It’s already helping him handle left-handed hitters more effectively, and should help the […]
This was the 3rd week of full minor league play (stats are entering play on May, 3rd). According to FanGraphs (which factors in age and proximity to the big leagues), 19-year old Cooper Flemming has taken over the top hitter spot in the Rays system. Flemming was the Rays 2nd round pick in 2025 and […]
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a meme.
Alex Newhook notched the go-ahead goal with 8:53 remaining in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 at Benchmark International Arena. Captain Nick Suzuki also scored for the upstart Canadiens, and goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 28 shots. Dominic James lit the lamp for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made seven saves. Montreal will face the Buffalo Sabres starting on Wednesday.
Cale Makar scor...
It’s now been roughly three hours since the final horn of the 2025-26 Tampa Bay Lightning season sounded. To this very moment, we’re not exactly sure how the Lightning lost this game. Yes, we grasp the concept that they scored fewer goals than the Canadiens. Still, it was such a well-played game, especially defensively, that we’re still kind of waiting for them to somehow find the equalizer.
The Lightning limited the Montreal Canadiens to nine shots on goal. There was a stretch of roughly...
The final game of the opening round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs was concluded tonight as the Montreal Canadiens held on for a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning, eliminating the Lightning as the eighth and final team gone from the first round. Of course, that means we'll have exit interviews on The Hockey Show as five more people join Ethan (Ottawa), Harv (Los Angeles), and Billy (Pittsburgh) back on the mainland after spending two weeks or less on Survivor: NHL Playoffs island! The rem...
Montreal is 2-1 when this woman sings O, Canada, so I’m actually starting to like her a bit.
First period
Lane Hutson deals with an early shift from Nikita Kucherov’s line by stripping the puck and turning it the other way.
Montreal’s first chance comes from the Kirby Dach line after two Lightning defenders went after Josh Anderson in the end wall.
Darren Raddysh was standing in the crease trying to check Nick Suzuki at the side of the net, and a shot from Mike Matheson...
Good teams win close games. The Rays are proving so far this season that they truly are a good team. Today was another example. Not because every win has to be clean, or because the offense is turning games into batting practice. No, this one was proof in a much more Rays’ way. Tampa Bay […]
2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 7: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (A2)
Series tied 3-3
Start time: **6:00 PM EDT / 3:00 PM PDT** In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: TNT, truTV In the Lightning region: The Spot Streaming: Sportsnet+
Noah Dobson will be a game-time decision for today’s Game 7, having ramped up his on-ice work in recent days to the point he’s been taking shots. He won’t be ...
The Buffalo Sabres continue to be the great Cinderella Story of the 2025-26 season. After making the playoffs for the first time in 15 years, their first-round triumph over the Boston Bruins in six games continued the good vibes. But we're getting troubling news on the injury front as the Sabres get set for their second-round series this coming week against the winner of the Montréal Canadiens-Tampa Bay Lightning Game 7 on Sunday night. Head coach Lindy Ruff told reporters that we ...
Go Rays!
A miserable road trip is about to come to an end. The San Francisco Giants are in Florida taking on the Tampa Bay Rays for some breakfast baseball (for us watching from the west coast, that is … it’s the less appealing and less alliterative lunch baseball where the game is), and they’re hoping to […]
It's Game 7 for the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday night, and both teams are hoping to have all hands on deck, if at all possible. For the Habs, top-pairing defenseman Noah Dobson hasn't played in the entire first-round series, recovering from an injury to his thumb suffered while blocking a shot on April 11th. But a significant development on Sunday morning as Dobson took warmup with the team, and head coach Martin St. Louis says he is "confident" that the blueline...
Game Seven: Montreal Canadiens (3-3) at Tampa Bay Lightning (3-3)
Time: 6:00 PM EST
Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa, FL (Lightning are 4-1 in Game 7 Home Games)
TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, TNT, truTV, HBOMax, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App
Odds: Lightning
Know the Opponents: Habs Eye on the Prize
There is a story, perhaps anecdotal, that occasionally circulates around the internets about George Lucas’ directorial style while shooting the original Sta...
Logan Stankoven scored twice to extend his postseason goal streak to five games in the Carolina Hurricanes 3-0 victory over Philadelphia Flyers in Game 1 at Lenovo Center on Saturday. Frederik Andersen made 19 saves to post his second shutout of the playoffs, and Jackson Blake also tallied for the Hurricanes, who are unbeaten. Sean Couturier matched Stankoven with a game-high five shots, and Dan Vladar stopped 20 shots for the Flyers.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING vs MONTREAL CANADIENS
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2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs – Eastern Conference QFs
Game 7: Montreal Canadiens (A3) @ Tampa Bay Lightning (A2)
Series tied 3-3
Start time: **6:00 PM EDT / 3:00 PM PDT** In Canada: CBC, Sportsnet (English), TVA Sports (French) In the United States: TNT, truTV In the Lightning region: The Spot Streaming: Sportsnet+
The official stats say that the Tampa Bay Lightning had a 38-26 advantage in scoring chances at five-on-five and a 22-7 edge in high-danger chances in Game 6, but ...
Go Rays!