NHL Playoffs: Tampa Bay Lightning Battle Back To Take Game 1
The Tampa Bay Lightning led the charge in the third period of play to defeat the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of the 2016 NHL Playoffs.
The moment everyone here in the Bolts Nation has been waiting for is finally upon us. Tonight, at the Amalie Arena right here in sunny Tampa, Florida, the Tampa Bay Lightning took on the Detroit Red Wings in Game 1 of the Quarterfinal Round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Beaten and battered, the Tampa Bay Lightning had a lot to prove as they took the ice tonight. On the bright side, the Tampa Bay Lightning were able to get alternate captain Ryan Callahan, center Tyler Johnson, right wing Nikita Kucherov, and defenseman Victor Hedman back in the lineup tonight.
The Detroit Red Wings put a lot of pressure on the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first period of play, but it would ultimately be the Lightning who would emerge victorious when it comes to striking first blood. It was returning Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov who would dig deep for the puck and send it flying past Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard and into the back of the net.
There would be quite a bit of back and forth, and more than anyone’s fair share of pushing and shoving, between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Detroit Red Wings in the first 20 minutes of play, but when the buzzer would sound to end the period, the Red Wings outshot the Lightning 13-8. While the Bolts may have had the lead on the scoreboard, if the Lightning offense didn’t pick things up in the 2nd period, they’d be in a rather precarious position.
So…speaking of the aforementioned precarious position. When the two teams hit the ice for the second period of play, it was unabashedly clear the Red Wings had the upper hand. Just 2:11 in the second period, Red Wings defenseman Mike Green would fire off a slapshot that would deflect off the stick of J.T. Brown and soar past Ben Bishop and into the back of the net.
Just under two minutes later, the Red Wings would attack the net once again. This time it would be Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader who would tip in a shot from Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey and give the Red Wings their first lead of the game.
It may have taken the Tampa Bay Lightning some time to get going in the second period, but once they did the tide began to shift and the Lightning seemed to have more control over the pace of the game. Just before the halfway point in the period, Nikita Kucherov would score his 2nd goal of the night to tie things up for the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was definitely a much-needed boost for the Bolts before they made their way up the tunnel and to the locker room for the second intermission.
The Tampa Bay Lightning made up quite a bit of ground in the second period in terms of shots on goal, but it was still clear the Red Wings had every intention of making Ben Bishop work for each and every save he made tonight. When the buzzer sounded to end the 2nd period of play, the Red Wings would once again outshoot the Tampa Bay Lightning; this time by 13-12 for a two period total of 26-20.
It may not seem like it when you look at the scoreboard, but Ben Bishop had actually had a pretty good outing tonight, making some seriously crucial saves for the Lightning tonight. If not for Bishop, we may very well be looking at a whole different game. Tampa Bay Lightning fans everyone continued to hope Bishop would be able to hold strong in the final 20 minutes of play.
One of the defining things about the second period of play was the inordinate amount of penalties on both sides of the ice. There was definitely a lot of tensions heading into tonight’s game, but things really started to heat up around the halfway point in the 2nd period.
There would be a total of 18 minutes in penalties called in the second period. The Tampa Bay Lightning would own 10 of those minutes whereas the Red Wings would own eight. The chaos would start with an interference call against Lightning center Alex Killorn. From there, a huge scrum would bust out on the ice. In fact, it really started to look as if the WWE had come into town early with the amount of wrestling taking place on the ice.
After the referees had things under control and a moment to sort things out, Killorn would go off for two minutes for Interference and Braydon Coburn would get two minutes for Roughing against Danny DeKeyser and two minutes for Rouging against Darren Helm. On the other side of the ice, Red Wings center Dylan Larkin would get two minutes for Roughing as would Darren Helm and Danny DeKeyser.
We’ve never been one to have sympathy for the referees, but it was pretty clear from the moment the puck dropped that this was going to be an incredibly long night for the men in zebra stripes.
Early in the third period, it looked as if the Tampa Bay Lightning was more than ready to recapture control of this game. They were much more aggressive with the puck and making Howard work for his saves. Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman had an excellent goal in the opening moments of the third period, but everything was negated when it was ruled Jonathan Drouin had gone offside on the play.
Thankfully, the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t take having their goal overturned lightly. They continued to apply the pressure to the Detroit Red Wings. It wasn’t too long before the goal horn would sound once again and the tesla coils would fire high in the rafters of the Amalie Arena as Alex Killorn would score his first goal of the postseason with a tip-in on a shot from Tyler Johnson. This was Johnson’s second assist of the night.
As the final minutes ticked off the clock in the third period, both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Detroit Red Wings would turn up the intensity like Goku going Super Saiyan. There was more than one moment when it looked like the Red Wings were going to get back into the game, but Ben Bishop showed the Red Wings first hand that this is our house.
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The final nail was hammered into the coffin of the Red Wings game when Red Wings left wing Justin Abdelkader got tangled up with Ondrej Palat in the Wings defensive zone causing the play to come to a halt. The Lightning would manage to keep the puck tied up in the Red Wings zone until the buzzer sounded and the Lightning would bring home the victory in Game 1.
Considering the way the Tampa Bay Lightning limped into the postseason, we are rather impressed with the tenacity they showed tonight against the Red Wings. Once the Bolts got rolling, they were aggressive with the puck and determined to overcome the onslaught of the Red Wings offense.
Nikita Kucherov would score two goals while his linemate Tyler Johnson would come home with two assists on the evening. There is no denying these two are a veritable force for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s offense. If the team as a whole can continue to play the way these two players have played tonight, they will have no problem overcoming the Red Wings and continuing to the next round.
Next: Lightning vs. Red Wings: How Do These 2 Teams Match Up?
The Tampa Bay Lightning doesn’t have very much time to celebrate their Game One win over the Detroit Red Wings. Both teams are off tomorrow night before they charge back into the Amalie Arena on Friday night to do it all over again at 7:00 p.m. Are you ready to Be The Thunder once again? You can bet we are!