Looking to turn around their fortunes after dropping six of their last seven, the Lightning picked up two crucial points against a divisional rival.
As Jon Cooper said afterwards, it wasn’t a perfect performance. The Lightning still struggled at times with turnovers. But their overall level was much higher than where it had been. They played emotion, pace, and high urgency.
That was certainly true in the first period, a frame in which the Lightning decisively controlled play. They were guilty of passing out of some potential scoring chances, and they held on to the puck a beat too long on some of the shots they did attempt. That’s why, despite posting 26 shot attempts, they recorded only eight shots on goal.
They finally grabbed a lead in the opening minute of the second period. During a power play, Nikita Kucherov carried the puck into the offensive zone and drew two Detroit penalty killers to him. Then he slipped the puck to an open Jake Guentzel at the right circle. Guentzel fired the puck between John Gibson’s pads at :49.
The Red Wings enjoyed the run of play for most of the second period, however. They took advantage of the second period’s short change in the offensive zone to pin the Lightning in the Tampa Bay end. During one sequence, defensemen Darren Raddysh endured a shift lasting 4:07, and Ryan McDonagh’s lasted 3:52. After registering just 14 shot attempts in the first, the Red Wings accumulated 27 attempts in the second. Thirteen of those went on net, but Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped all of them.
The Lightning pushed back in the closing minutes of the period and did put a second puck into the Detroit net on a Declan Carlile shot that deflected off a Red Wings player. But the goal was immediately waived off due to goalie interference.
Early in the third, the Lightning did extend the lead. After maintaining control of a 50-50 puck in the offensive zone, Kucherov nudged the puck to Brayden Point at the right point. Point’s shot deflected off Ben Chiarot and Gage Goncalves before entering the Detroit net at 1:35.
Several minutes later, a Tampa Bay defensive-zone turnover gave Detroit an extended shift in the offensive zone. J.T. Compher redirected Alex DeBrincat’s shot past Vasilevskiy at 7:05.
The Lightning managed the rest of the third period reasonably well. A few additional d-zone turnovers led to some anxious moments, including a Patrick Kane shot off the post. But the Lightning also spent time in the Detroit end. One of those shifts yielded a key insurance goal for Goncalves, who again had a Point shot deflect off him and go into the net. That tally at 16:22 made it 3-1. The Wings pulled Gibson directly after the ensuing faceoff, and Guentzel tallied an empty-netter at 16:55.
It was a four-point game between the division foes. The win extended the Lightning’s lead over Detroit to five points, and they still have two games in hand on the Red Wings.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game (as selected by Phil Esposito):
- Gage Goncalves — Lightning. Two goals.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 24 saves.
- Patrick Kane — Red Wings. Assist.
