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Bruins vs Red Wings

Red Wings looking to play quicker against Lightning

Saturday, 04.18.2015 / 10:48 AM

By Corey Long - NHL.com Correspondent / Lightning-Red Wings series blog

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Lightning-Red Wings series blog
Red Wings looking to play quicker against Lightning

TAMPA -- Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock tried to downplay the switch in home-ice advantage after Detroit earned a 3-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round.

With a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series Babcock said he wants his team have the same sense of urgency for Game 2 at Amalie Arena on Saturday (3 p.m. ET; CBC, NBC, NBCSN, TVA Sports).

"We have to play a lot better than [Thursday]," Babcock said. "Overall we have to be much quicker to get to loose pucks and we need to establish some more time and possession in the zone."

Detroit was outshot 46-14 on Thursday but got a strong performance from goalie Petr Mrazek, who made 44 saves in his first start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Mrazek said he understands why Babcock doesn't want to see him under the sort pressure he faced in Game 1, but the 23-year-old said he doesn't mind the work.

"I just think it’s a lot better to face a lot of shots early on because it helps you stay focused," Mrazek said. "It gives you confidence and it helps for the next game. But we have to think about the second game."

Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk scored two goals in Game 1, but the game-winner came on an impressive spin move by forward Luke Glendening to get past Lightning forward Valtteri Filppula and then backhand a shot past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop.

It was the sort of effort the Red Wings expect from Glendening, who constantly receives praise from his teammates for his work ethic and mental toughness.

"He means so much to this team," defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. "He always puts the team first with the effort that he puts in. He’s a guy a lot of guys look up to."

Glendening was less complimentary of himself and his move that made all the highlight reels Thursday.

"I was just out of gas, actually," Glendening said.

Here are the projected lineups:

RED WINGS

Darren Helm - Pavel Datsyuk - Henrik Zetterberg

Gustav Nyquist - Riley Sheahan - Tomas Tatar

Stephen Weiss - Joakim Andersson - Tomas Jurco

Drew Miller - Luke Glendening - Landon Ferraro

Niklas Kronwall - Jonathan Ericsson

Danny DeKeyser - Alexey Marchenko

Kyle Quincey - Marek Zidlicky

Petr Mrazek

Jimmy Howard

LIGHTNING

Alex KillornSteven StamkosRyan Callahan

Nikita KucherovTyler JohnsonOndrej Palat

Cedric PaquetteValtteri FilppulaVladislav Namestnikov

Brenden MorrowBrian BoyleJ.T. Brown

Victor HedmanAndrej Sustr

Matthew CarleBraydon Coburn

Anton StralmanNikita Nesterov

Ben Bishop

Andrei Vasilevskiy

Scratched: Mark Barberio, Jonathan Drouin

Injured: Jason Garrison (upper body)

Scratched: Brendan Smith, Jakub Kindl

Injured: Erik Cole (spinal contusion), Justin Abdelkader (hand)

Status Report: Abdelkader is not expected to play Saturday after Babcock said he didn't anticipate any lineup changes. … Ericsson did not skate in Detroit's practice Friday but will play Saturday. Cole replaced Ericsson in the line rushes but has been ruled out for the playoffs.

Who's Hot: Mrazek had 44 saves on 46 shots in Game 1. … Datsyuk scored two goals.

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