Canadiens Face Lightning in Eastern Conference First Round

0:00It's April 18th from game day to every day. This is NHL News today, powered by AI. The Montreal Canadians are set to clash with the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference first round, kicking off game 1 Sunday at 5, 45 p.m., Eastern Time in Tampa. The Habs dominated their last two regular season meetings, winning 4-1 there on March 31st and 2-1 at home on April 9th both. With that playoff fire, Coach Martin St. Louis felt the buzz at practice before flying south, calling his squad confident and pumped up for this time of year. He loves the four days off after their final regular season lost to Philly, giving time to balance rest and sharpening skills. Players like Defenceman, Jaden Strubel, called those recent games, super energetic, like playoffs already, and they're geared up for a heated series. Forward Alex Nuhook warned about Tampa's ways of attack, with stars like Nikita Kutcherov racking up 130 points and guys like Jake.

1:00Gwenzel and Brandon Hagle, i.e. topping 35 goals. St. Louis tweaked the blue line at practice, reuniting Mike Matheson with Alexander Carrier, who's back after missing 9 games with an upper body. Carrier's their only healthy right shot guy, with no adopts and out for the round, so Lane Hudson pairs with Caden Gula and Strubel, links with Arbor. The Canadians have stepped up through injuries all season, and now they're locked in to ride that momentum deep into the playoffs.