Some stat lines from this game spelled potential trouble for the Lightning. The Red Wings had gone 17-34 on the power play over their previous 10 games, and the Lightning put them on the power play six times. Also, Tampa Bay ceded most of the possession, allowing 40 shots on net and 77 shot attempts.
But Andrei Vasilevskiy was brilliant in net, denying numerous scoring chances. He finished with 39 saves. The Lightning’s penalty kill met the challenge as well, killing five of those six Red Wings power plays.
And while the Lightning only registered 22 shots and 43 attempts, they used two strong segments to score four of their five goals. The first segment came at the start of the game. The Lightning carried play in the early minutes and grabbed the lead at 2:02. Emil Lilleberg fired a shot from the center point that deflected off the stick of Dylan Larkin. The puck went wide left of the net and ricocheted off the end boards back in front. Cam Talbot was at the top of his crease for the Lilleberg shot. This allowed Brayden Point to cut in behind him. Point stopped the puck and tucked it into an open side of the net.
Their second dominant stretch occurred at the start of the middle period. They wanted to regroup after what had been a rough finish to the opening period. The Red Wings controlled the action in the first after the Lightning’s initial surge. The Lightning pushed back to start the second. They were hungry on pucks, won battles, and created scoring chances. Brandon Hagel drew a penalty off the opening faceoff of the period. Twelve seconds into the power play, Nikita Kucherov set up Jake Guentzel at the top of the crease for an uncontested shot. Guentzel slipped the puck between the pads of Talbot at :16. Less than two minutes later, the Lightning added another goal. Moments after Point and Guentzel almost teamed up on a two-on-one, Kucherov scored in highlight-reel fashion. He skated to the right circle, angled into the slot, and roofed a shot over Talbot’s glove at 1:50. Mitchell Chaffee made it 4-0 when he finished a close-range shot at 3:58. Cam Atkinson intercepted the puck behind the Detroit net and centered to Chaffee, who was open in the low slot.
The Lightning’s penalty trouble continued in the middle stanza, as the Wings received two more power plays. They converted on the second of those. Patrick Kane wired a cross-ice pass to Lucas Raymond for a left-circle one-timer at 14:12. But the Lightning answered quickly. Twenty seconds after Raymond’s goal, Kucherov drew a tripping penalty on Ben Chiarot. At 15:04, Darren Raddysh drilled a center-point one-timer over Talbot’s glove. Kucherov earned his 600th career assist on the goal.
In the third, the Red Wings received two more power plays. So they had a chance to cut into the deficit. But the Lightning killed both penalties. Vasilevskiy made four tough saves during one of those power plays. During one sequence, he made three point-blank stops in a row.
Based on how much time they spent without the puck, this one may qualify as an ugly win. But given that it came against a divisional rival — one that had won eight of nine and is chasing them in the standings — it was a significant win.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 39 saves.
- Nikita Kucherov — Lightning. Goal and two assists. 600th career assist.
- Emil Lilleberg — Lightning. Assist.
