It was a high-chance game. Fortunately for the Lightning, Andrei Vasilevskiy erased more chances than John Gibson could, and the Lightning picked up their season-high sixth consecutive win.
Of the Grade-A looks the Red Wings generated in the first period, most came either a) off the rush or b) shortly after the puck entered the Tampa Bay defensive zone. The goal they scored in the first followed the second scenario. Following a Simon Edvinsson dump-in, Michael Rasmussen disrupted a Lightning clearing attempt and set up J.T. Compher at the right circle for a shot that beat Vasilevskiy high on the stick side at 11:29.
The Wings might have scored more than one first-period goal, but Vasilevskiy denied several other looks, including a Patrick Kane shot on a two-on-one and a Lucas Raymond attempt from the slot in the closing seconds. Kane also missed two open nets in the frame.
At the other end, the Lightning also created looks in the first period, although theirs weren’t quite as dangerous. They tied the game at 17:07, however, when Darren Raddysh cranked a slapshot from the high slot past Gibson during a Lightning power play.
The teams combined for three goals in the opening 3:14 of the second period. With the puck sliding into the Detroit end, Gage Goncalves muscled it away from Albert Johansson and snapped a shot through Gibson’s pads at :34.
On Wednesday against Calgary, Pontus Holmberg returned to the lineup after missing seven games due to injury, and the Lightning reunited the line of Yanni Gourde, Zemgus Girgensons, and Holmberg. In this game, they teamed up for the third Lightning tally. Girgensons threw the puck from the right circle into the slot. Detroit center Nate Danielson mishandled it, nudging the puck into the crease. Gourde had a couple of swipes at it, and he chipped the second of those over Gibson at 3:01. But the Wings answered on the next shift. A Lightning turnover behind their net led to Compher’s open look from the slot. It hit the crossbar, but Rasmussen slipped in the rebound.
The goalies kept the game at 3-2 until the latter stages of the period. That’s when Gourde netted his second of the period. Off the rush, Holmberg forced the puck to the front of the net. It caromed back in the slot to Gourde, who was trailing the play. He fired it into the top of the net at 16:09. Just over two minutes later, Dylan Larkin finished a shot from the left circle.
The Lightning carried that 4-3 lead into the third, which ended up being the tightest defensive period of the three. The Wings did have a few good looks to tie the game, especially when they received a power play just shy of the halfway mark. But Vasilevskiy made three saves during the kill, including a point-blank stop on Larkin. Soon after, matching penalties were assessed to Gourde and James Van Riemsdyk. About a minute into the four-on-four, the Red Wings won a defensive-zone faceoff to gain possession of the puck. Mo Seider and Edvinsson kept passing the puck back and forth without moving it up ice. Eventually, Seider fumbled the puck away to Kucherov. Seconds later, Kucherov set up Raddysh for a one-timer at the center point, and Jake Guentzel tipped it in at 12:37.
Vasilevskiy made a few more impressive saves on close-range shots down the stretch: three in a row on Samuelsson with just over six minutes left and one more on Van Riemsdyk after the Wings pulled Gibson for an extra attacker. Following the save on Van Riemsdyk, Raddysh delivered an outlet to Brandon Hagel, who scored into the empty net at 17:13.
The Lightning wrap up the back-to-back on Saturday afternoon in New York against the Rangers.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
- Yanni Gourde — Lightning. Two goals, including GWG.
- Andrei Vasilevskiy — Lightning. 33 saves.
- Darren Raddysh — Lightning. Goal and two assists.
