Quebec native Gourde not distracted by added attention in Round 1

Yanni Gourde sauntered down the hallway leading toward the visitors’ locker room at the Bell Centre on Friday morning, shared a ‘Good morning’ with one person and then turned to deliver a quick French greeting to the crowd of media waiting near his stall.

The 34-year-old Tampa Bay Lightning forward might be having more conversations—both in French and English—this week than in any other over the course of the 2025-26 NHL season.

Montreal pundits know Gourde better than any other Bolt—he is, after all, a native of Saint-Narcisse, Quebec, a municipality just over two hours away from the visiting locker room at the Bell Centre.

Gourde is close to home but sitting in the away locker room as the Lightning visit Montreal for Game 6 of their First Round matchup in the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Friday.

“It’s always fun,” Gourde said earlier this season of facing Montreal. “The Canadiens are such a great, historical organization, and it’s fun to play against those guys. That’s the team I grew up watching, so it’s special.”

Don’t mistake that for meaning Gourde might be caught up in any feelings or nostalgia this First Round matchup could carry. Teammate Gage Goncalves has seen the same Gourde, who brings energy in more ways than one.

“If one guy's gonna have distractions here, it's probably him, and he doesn't let anything affect him at all. Every day he comes back, he's got a smile on his face. He's talking about the game or talking about something else,” a laughing Goncalves said of Gourde. 

“He’s an awesome guy to have around, and he’s playing basically in his hometown, so there's a lot of family and friends here. He kind of shies that away and focuses on the group, and it just shows how big of a pro he is and how good of a pro he is, and that's why he's been such a good player in this league for so many years.”

Gourde is no stranger to fans cheering against him in his home province, particularly as a member of the Lightning. 

He scored the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the 2021 Stanley Cup Final against the Canadiens, the first strike in what ended as a five-game series victory and a second consecutive Stanley Cup ring.

Gourde, as most young hockey players in Quebec do, grew up rooting for the Canadiens since they were always on sports television and radio. Now, his sole focus is on helping Tampa Bay as they battle that same team at the Bell Centre tonight seeking to force a Game 7 back in Tampa this Sunday.

The fans of Montreal have treated Gourde to some extra taunts when he touches the ice, and he spends every practice day answering multiple questions in English before also answering a flood of inquiries in French as one of only a few Bolts who speak the local language.

None of those added responsibilities bother Gourde, who ranks fifth among active undrafted NHLers for career playoff games (93) and points (44) while tying for third in goals (20).

“That’s to be expected in playoffs. I think it's all good,” the forward said. “I come in here, I know I'm probably gonna have to answer a few questions, but that's OK. There’s no problem there, and it's all fun.”

Penalty kill pest

Gourde has averaged just shy of 16 minutes per game through the first five bouts of Round 1. That total has included plenty of time on the penalty kill, one area in which the Lightning feature the veteran center.

Gourde is averaging 2:27 of shorthanded time on ice per game—third-most among Lightning forwards—and was one of multiple reasons the team ended the regular season with the league’s third-best penalty kill at 82.6%.

After allowing a hat-trick on the man advantage in Game 1, Tampa Bay’s penalty kill has quieted Montreal a bit—the team is erasing 91.7% of Montreal’s power plays over the previous three games, going 11-for-12.

“First of all, we’ve got to stay disciplined a little bit more. I think we've put ourselves a little bit in too many of those PK situations,” Gourde said of the penalty kill during the playoffs so far. “But I think it’s trusting our system and trusting what works and taking pride in our clears and our details, trying to block shots and doing all those things. I think that's the key for us.”

Gourde earned an assist in Game 5 for his first point of the series and has been heavily involved throughout the matchup. Montreal has scored just one even-strength goal with Gourde on the ice.

The Lightning forward plays a game which lends to the added physicality that accompanies the playoffs, too. Gourde has involved himself in multiple post-whistle conversations in the series, almost always equipped with a smile.

You can probably expect more of that tonight.

“That’s Gourdo being Gourdo,” Goncalves said. “Against any team, any game of the year, he’s going to do that. It brings a lot of emotion to our game. When we’re playing with a lot of emotion I think we’re a tough team to beat, and he gets us fired up a lot.”

Game 6 is set for 7 p.m.