The Tampa Bay Lightning took down a familiar divisional opponent in the Detroit Red Wings at home and earned the win despite losing another key player to injury.
Following a less than stellar road trip through Western Canada last week, the Tampa Bay Lightning responded well tonight and took down the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, on home ice to improve to 3-0-0 against their Atlantic Division rival this season. It was a much-needed win, and the team got it done in impressive fashion.
Throughout most of this season, the Lightning have struggled to grab the lead in the first period and have often gone down early in the opening frame, but that wasn’t a theme tonight. Tampa Bay came out with passion and a mission to get back into the win column. They also did it without key players in Ryan Callahan, Nikita Kucherov, and Ondrej Palat.
As such, the Tampa Bay Lightning got off to a fairly quick start against the Red Wings and opened the period with a goal. The play that led to the goal started with Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin taking the puck around the net and sending it up the boards to defenseman Anton Stralman.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning blueliner then shot the puck from the point and forward Brian Boyle deflected the shot past Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard, which put Tampa Bay up 1-0 seven minutes into the period.
Later on in the first, Lightning netminder Ben Bishop stretched out his leg to block a shot and sprawled out in front of the net in pain. He had to be helped off the ice afterward, which isn’t a great sign, of course. During the game, it was announced that the 30-year-old goaltender would be out the rest of the game with a lower-body injury. More on his situation will be provided later.
Unfortunately, the Tampa Bay Lightning have been hit several injuries to key players, and Bishop going down is another tough one to swallow, especially with the team’s performance in this game. However, backup Andrei Vasilevskiy played well in relief and did enough to earn the win.
The first period ended with a late penalty to Lightning forward J.T. Brown, who got into a bit of a scuffle with Red Wings forward Andreas Athanasiou. Both players went off to the penalty box for fighting, but it was Brown who was charged with a second penalty (roughing.) Lightning forward Cory Conacher served Brown’s roughing penalty, and Detroit went on the Power Play.
At the end of one, the Tampa Bay Lightning had killed off that penalty and the score remained 1-0 in favor of the home team.
The second period of tonight’s game was a bit more interesting, however. Both sides continued to take penalties (eight each, to be exact), but it was the Lightning that took advantage of their opportunities.
At 7:41 of the second period, Lightning forward Alex Killorn got the puck to Drouin off the faceoff won by Tyler Johnson, and Drouin proceeded to skate the puck around the point and into the high slot. Boyle was waiting in front of the net, and Drouin fired the puck past a screened Petr Mrazek, who filled in for Detroit goaltender Jimmy Howard, who went down with an injury.
Drouin’s goal on the 5-on-3 put the Lightning up 2-0 in the second period. Tampa Bay would continue to build upon that lead as the period progressed.
Later on in the period, the Tampa Bay Lightning would again take advantage of a penalty on the Red Wings when forward Brayden Point scored on the Power Play at 17:04 of the second. The young center, who was waiting around the net, put away a rebound created by Johnson, who fired a one-timer on net. Point’s goal gave the Lightning a commanding 3-0 lead late in the period.
That was Point’s first goal in several games, and his third of the season was well-deserved, as he has had many opportunities in the past to put the puck in the back of the net. Let’s just say his teammates were glad to see him score and get that one out of the way.
Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman reached another important milestone in his career on that goal, as he reached 200 career assists in 503 games played. During Saturday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, Hedman set a new franchise record for all-time points scored by a blueliner, passing former Bolts defenseman, Dan Boyle, with his 254th point.
Just minutes after Point’s third goal of the season, forward Vladislav Namestnikov fired the puck past Mrazek after Killorn slid a pass over to him on a 2-on-1 breakaway. This would put the Lightning up 4-0 heading into the second intermission.
Point actually set up the play by chipping the puck along the glass and out of his own zone and into the neutral zone, where Killorn picked it up and began skating down the wing.
So, the Tampa Bay Lightning scored three goals in the middle period, including two on the Power Play, and that would be it for the Bolts, as the third period was a bit less uneventful.
For most of the third period, the Lightning controlled play and limited the Red Wings’ scoring chances overall. On the man advantage, Tampa Bay killed off all five of their Power Play opportunities, which mainly occurred in the second period.
Detroit forward Drew Miller was charged with a double-minor for high-sticking against Cory Conacher, and he was given four minutes since there was blood. As a result, the Lightning went on the man advantage for the full amount of time, but they were unable to find the back of the net. At that point, though, Tampa Bay was already up 4-0, and the game was mostly out of reach.
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As the final period of tonight’s game was winding down, it looked like Vasilevskiy and the Lightning would earn the shutout against the Red Wings, but at 19:49 of the third, forward Anthony Mantha knocked in the loose puck and cut the Lightning lead to 4-1.
Though it was disappointing the Lightning gave up the shutout with 11 seconds to go, Tampa Bay put on a show tonight and put together one of their best performances in several games. They earned their 16th win of the season and moved within two points of the Boston Bruins for third place in the Atlantic Division.
Overall, I thought the Tampa Bay Lightning as a whole played well, especially the Killorn and Drouin lines. Both lines were very active, and Drouin and Killorn both had two-point nights, along with Johnson and Point, and Boyle scored the opening goal.
It was refreshing to see a performance like this one, especially against a divisional opponent, and hopefully, they keep it going against the St. Louis Blues on Thursday at home.
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After an average road trip through Western Canada last week, the Tampa Bay Lightning returned home determined to get back on track and earn a much-needed win. They did just that tonight and got back into the win column. The Lightning have been on the road quite a bit this season, and the team will get to see some more home ice in the next several games. There will be some important points to grab as the season rolls into the new year and closer to the NHL trade deadline.