Another key to Detroit's victory was the play of goaltender Thomas Greiss. The Lightning posted 41 shots and generated numerous scoring chances. Greiss was terrific in denying many of those looks. During the Lightning's strong first period, Greiss stopped all 15 shots that came his way. He made several key saves late in the game, too, when the Red Wings were protecting their 4-3 lead.
But the fact that the Lightning scored three goals and, but for Greiss, could have had more, isn't the biggest takeaway from this one. The Lightning have talked about the significance of getting their defensive game in order as the playoffs approach. Their defensive performance - after the first period - wasn't good enough. They allowed a goal on the shift after they opened the scoring. They took an offensive zone penalty which led to Detroit's second goal. They yielded three goals in a 3:57 span. On Detroit's opening goal, they didn't protect the low slot. Moments before the Wings' second goal, the Lightning had a chance to clear the d-zone as a penalty wound down, but failed to get it down the ice. Seconds later, the puck was in their net. And on the third and fourth Detroit goals, turnovers resulted in an odd-man rush score for Lucas Raymond and a breakaway finish from Jakub Vrana.
The Lightning have six regular season games remaining. They'll look to use these contests to clean up the sloppy parts of their game that hurt them against Detroit.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
1. Thomas Greiss - Red Wings. 38 saves.
2. Ross Colton - Lightning. Two goals.
3. Jakub Vrana - Red Wings. Two goals.
