TAMPA, Fla. — Sage advice from Martin St. Louis was offered two days after Juraj Slafkovsky took the hit from Max Crozier that the Tampa Bay Lightning believed altered their fate in a come-from-behind win in Game 4 and in this series:

“If you let that moment define the series, you’re putting yourself in a bad spot,” St. Louis said. “Don’t let moments like that define it. Rewrite it.”

What’s the best way to do that for his Montreal Canadiens? Hit back harder where it hurts most — on the scoreboard.

That’s where Slafkovsky, who threw the first haymaker of this series with a Game 1 hat trick, can flip the script. 

Yes, he’s a big, bruising power forward capable of inflicting the type of pain he’s been on the receiving end of from Game 2 through Game 4. 

But Slafkovsky’s greatest revenge in Game 5 would be sparking the Canadiens’ top six to produce at five-on-five, which is something it hasn’t done since the start of this series.

A little more than half of his 73 points this season came at five-on-five. Nick Suzuki produced 55 of his 101 points at five-on-five. And Cole Caufield scored 41 of his 51 goals at five-on-five. 

All three of them — along with Ivan Demidov — are Montreal’s best forwards, and you have to think they hold the keys to the Canadiens returning to Montreal with a chance to close out this series.

St. Louis is expecting a big game out of them.

“I mean, if you just take the players alone and look at what they’ve done in their career and stuff, that should be enough for me (to believe),” the coach said Wednesday morning. “But to me, what enables to elevate any individual, I think, is the collective game around them. This isn’t a one-on-one hockey game. There’s one-on-one moments—I’ve said it—and they’ve shown that when they get those moments, they’re elite. But to create more of those moments, you need a better collective game. And I think, at times, it’s been good in this series. But we need more of that collective game to create those moments for those elite players.”

St. Louis wouldn’t confirm Brendan Gallagher would play his first game of this series Wednesday, but only the expected scratches skated at Benchmark International Arena while the Canadiens were holding their media availability at their hotel, and Gallagher wasn’t among them.

Oliver Kapanen, who had 22 goals this season but hasn’t scored yet in these playoffs, was. As were Joe Veleno, Patrik Laine, Adam Engstrom and Jacob Fowler, who’ve all watched the first four games of this series just like Gallagher.

The veteran of 76 playoff games — more than anyone else on the Canadiens — has been around the group and giving his teammates lots of advice, according to No. 76, Zachary Bolduc.

“He’s been talking a lot with us, the younger guys, and telling us what he sees,” Bolduc said. “He’s been great.”

What you’d expect of Gallagher, if he plays, is to be at his best and somehow bring more intensity than he ever has.

We’re talking about one of the fiercest competitors in the NHL, a guy who’s never short on intensity, a guy who’s proven time and time again he’s willing to bleed for the cause. You expect that not being able to play in these games has probably stoked the fire in him to five-alarm levels.

“There’s no doubt if he plays, he’s going to give you everything he has,” said St. Louis. “I think he does that every game.”

What Gallagher’s insertion means for the rest of the lineup

St. Louis wouldn’t even confirm Gallagher was in for Game 5, so he certainly wasn’t going to get into where he might play.

But the obvious choice would be to put him with Phillip Danault and Josh Anderson. 

That doesn’t guarantee St. Louis will do that. But if he does, it opens up the possibility of moving Jake Evans away from Danault and placing him in Kapanen’s place with Alex Newhook and Demidov.

Evans won 56 per cent of his faceoffs this season, and he’s won 60 per cent of them in the playoffs so far. So, if he does play with Newhook and Demidov, that’ll help the line have the puck more.

But even more important is for Demidov to have it more in the offensive zone, where he, Newhook and Kapanen have been lacking some of the balance St. Louis says facilitates the collective game he’s always referring to.

Evans is a specialist in facilitating that game with his direct, simple, heady play.

“I’d like to think I can impact it with my speed and a good forecheck,” Evans said on Tuesday. “I like to think I can do a good job sustaining offensive pressure by throwing it to the right guy and getting into open space.”

If Gallagher joins Danault and Anderson, look for Evans to do that for Montreal’s second line.

It’s entirely possible both players play elsewhere in the Canadiens’ lineup, though, so we’ll see what warmup brings.

Depth scoring still heavily favours Canadiens, while five-on-five play relatively even

While the Lightning’s top six have combined for 12 even-strength points in this series, the Canadiens’ bottom six have equalled that.

And though it feels as though the Lightning have an edge because of who’s scoring their goals, St. Louis doesn’t feel they have one.

“It’s tight at five-on-five at both ends,” he said. “I think it’s 11-11 in goals. On the power play, it’s what? 5-5? That means it’s 6-6 (at five-on-five). But they scored one at four-on-four, so we have one more goal than they do at five-on-five. We’re calculated, patient, trying to play the game that’s in front of us, and we’re trying to get better with every game.”

• Lightning coach Jon Cooper told reporters at Benchmark International Arena Wednesday morning that Victor Hedman remains doubtful to participate in this series. He also said that Charle-Edouard D’Astous, who hasn’t played since taking a huge hit from Anderson in Game 1, is a game-time decision for Game 5.

• Noah Dobson has been ramping up his return-to-play protocol since suffering an injury to his left hand two weeks ago. He started doing some light shooting Tuesday before the Canadiens left for Tampa, but it’s not anticipated he’ll return for Game 5. The team had no further update on his status.

• On staying even-keel, St. Louis said, “It’s something we’ve done well this year. We’ve showed a lot of maturity, and it enabled us to become consistent.”

Evidence: The Canadiens lost consecutive games only nine times this season.

For the second straight year, the Ottawa Charge earned their ticket to the playoffs at the last possible moment, but despite their post-season presence coming right down to the wire, they cannot be considered underdogs in this one.

Sure, the seeding tilts in favour of their opponents, the Boston Fleet, who clinched a playoff berth faster than any other team in PWHL history. But the Charge have two things going for them to help tip the scales: Experience and momentum. More specifically: Ottawa fought all the way to Game 4 of the Finals last season, plus they’re coming off a four-game win streak.

In short, the 18-point regular-season gap between these squads doesn’t do the matchup justice. None of their four contests this year were decided in regulation, and the Charge owned their season series.

With the Fleet and Charge so closely matched, expect high-pressure moments and extra time in this series.

Game 1 goes Thursday at 7:00 p.m. ET in the Tsongas Center.

Fleet X-Factor: Aerin Frankel

Aerin Frankel is the driver behind the Fleet’s dominance this season. With a record eight shutouts and an impressive .953 save percentage (just .002 behind league-leading Montreal Victoire keeper Ann-Renée Desbiens), she has anchored the Fleet to 19 regular-season wins. The 26-year-old Northeastern University alum will be the biggest difference-maker in the Fleet’s post-season run. If she can keep up the stellar stat sheet, it will be difficult for the Charge to snag an advantage.

Charge X-Factor: Experience

Ottawa knows the heightened environment of the Walter Cup Playoffs well after competing in the Final last year. Plus, they have a critical player who met that stage with an MVP-worthy performance in netminder Gwyneth Philips. Meanwhile, the Fleet missed the playoffs entirely last season. While there are plenty of lessons to be taken from the Minnesota Frost’s two-peat and the fact that the higher-seeded team has never won a playoff round, two of the most fundamental are clear: experience trumps regular-season success, and anything can happen when the Cup is on the line.

With USA’s clutch Olympic goal-scorer and all-around defensive superstar Megan Keller and rookie of the year candidate and young sensation Haley Winn lining up together on the blueline, there’s no doubt defence is what makes Boston such a threat. Combined, these two boast 41 points on the season, better than any other pair of defenders from any other PWHL team. On both sides of the sheet, these two are an unparalleled force.

The Fleet have been one of the most consistent forces in the PWHL since puck drop in November. After a five-game win streak to start the season, they remained at the top in a battle with Montreal for the No. 1 seed that went to the very end.

The playoffs always add an extra level of compete and toughness, but after close games all season —16 of their 20 were decided by a single goal, half of which finished in their favour— the Fleet are comfortable under such pressure-filled circumstances.

Shootouts won’t be around to save the Fleet in the playoffs.

All four of their regular-season meetings with Ottawa were decided in extra time, with three going to shootouts, as was the case for many of Boston’s games this season. The Fleet are exceptional at holding on to force extra time and finish in a situation where they could put the game on the back of their best player: Frankel.

The importance of defence shouldn’t be discounted here — in fact, the Fleet’s excellence on the blueline is a big reason they are still playing this spring — but at some point, the game comes down to who can score. Holding on until shootouts simply won’t be a strategy they can use in the playoffs.

Getting hot at the right time

The Charge had a tough first half of the season, after expansion ruffled the lineup that took them to the Final last year. Since the slow start, however, players like Brianne Jenner have recovered and excelled. Jenner has scored at least a point in each of her last four games — all of which the Charge won — and a total of seven in that span.

Ottawa has been playing important games for a few weeks now and is used to the must-win pressure that shrouds the playoffs. Added stakes have not been an issue for them.

They win-eth with Gwyneth

As we saw last season, netminder Philips was created for the playoffs. After Charge starter Emerance Maschmeyer was injured late in the season and ruled out for the 2025 playoffs, Ottawa had to take a chance on Philips and it paid off: she didn’t lose a game in regulation in last year’s post-season and made history as the first rookie and first player of the losing squad to win playoff MVP honours

Since then, she’s assumed the full-time starting role in Canada’s capital and filled the crease for a whopping 28 of 30 regular-season contests. Philips has the most game experience in the league after making a record 786 saves and facing 844 shots this season. Just two years out of college, she’s the third-best goaltender in the world, but if she shows up like she did in 2025, she has the potential to contend with, and even top, the performance Frankel gives on the other end of the ice.

The return of Carla MacLeod

Head coach Carla MacLeod shared her breast cancer diagnosis with the hockey world in November. Since then, she has spent some time away from the bench, including most recently missing the last five games of the season.

However, last year’s Head Coach of the Year finalist is set to make a return for the playoffs.

Despite the difficult journey MacLeod, and her club, have navigated this season, the changes behind the bench haven’t caused instability to creep into the on-ice product. Ultimately, it seems the Charge have even more to play for — something that is sure to continue motivating players into the playoffs.