One Montreal Canadien is already on Corey Perry’s radar for game 3 Friday

Perry didn't dance around it after Tampa Bay's overtime win in Game 2. He laid out exactly where the Lightning want this series to turn.

That's the warning. And it lands a little harder with Montreal heading into Friday's Game 3 without its top blue-line anchor available.

Noah Dobson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury and didn't dress in either of the first 2 games. He finished the regular season with 47 points in 80 games.

That changes the entire matchup for St-Louis. Tampa Bay isn't just trying to create offense. It's trying to pin Montreal's defense deep, force rushed exits, and make every retrieval a problem.

It's clear Lane Hutson is the main target.

Lane Hutson has taken on more, and he's answered with 1 goal and 1 assist through the first 2 games. But he's 22, and this is a different kind of weight in a tied playoff series.

Perry's message also comes with proof behind it. Brandon Hagel has 3 goals and 1 assist through 2 games, while Tampa's forecheck looked sharper as the series settled in.

Montreal still has the split because it opened with a 4-3 overtime win on the road. Now the series shifts to Bell Centre tied 1-1, and that gives the Canadiens energy, not comfort.

Juraj Slafkovsky has been Montreal's biggest threat so far with 3 goals, all on the power play. But Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki are still held scoreless and both sit at minus-3.

That's where Perry's target gets even more interesting. If Montreal's top forwards don't spend more time with the puck, that blue line will keep absorbing wave after wave.

Game 3 today isn't just about pace or emotion. Perry has already drawn the circle around Montreal's defense, and now the Canadiens have to show they can survive it.

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