Red Wings stifle Lightning, get crucial win

DETROIT -- Andreas Athanasiou and Henrik Zetterberg scored, and Petr Mrazek made 16 saves in the Detroit Red Wings' 2-0 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round series at Joe Louis Arena on Sunday.
The Lightning lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is in Detroit on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, TVA Sports 2, FS-F, FS-D).

"I thought we did a good job from the start of the game tonight all the way through," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "I thought we played well on both sides of the puck."
It was Mrazek's third career Stanley Cup Playoff shutout, all of them coming against the Lightning. He was the backup the first two games of the series behind Jimmy Howard, who allowed seven goals on 64 shots.
"It's always harder when you don't have many pucks on the net," Mrazek said. "But I tried to stay focused and guys did a great job in front of me, blocking lots of shots and didn't give them any easy chances."

Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop made 28 saves, including against Riley Sheahan on a breakaway with 7:37 left in the first period.
"[The Red Wings] played really hard," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "Their desperation level was high. They were the more desperate team."
Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman agreed.
"Our compete level wasn't high enough," he said.
The Red Wings held the Lightning's top line of Tyler Johnson between Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov without a shot after it scored seven of Tampa Bay's eight goals and combined for 15 points in the first two games.

Blashill used the line of Justin Abdelkader, Luke Glendening and Sheahan against Johnson, Kucherov and Killorn.
"I thought they did a good job of taking away their space," Blashill said. "But they also did a good job of grinding them in the offensive zone."
Forward Brian Boyle is the only other Tampa Bay player to score a goal in the series.
"You can't sit here and depend on three guys and think that's how it's going to go. That's not how it works," Cooper said.
Cooper said he felt the Lightning needed to shoot more against Mrazek, who made his first start since March 29.
"I know they switched goaltenders, but I don't know if they even needed a goaltender tonight," he said.

Athanasiou and Zetterberg scored 4:40 apart in the second period.
Athanasiou, a rookie forward, made it 1-0 with 7:18 left in the period. He one-timed a rolling puck from the left circle, and it deflected off Bishop's blocker and in on the short side. It was the first NHL playoff goal of Athanasiou's career.
"It was rolling; the old knuckle puck," Athanasiou said. "You never know where it's going to go. I was fortunate enough for it to go in."
Zetterberg made it 2-0 with 2:38 left in the second. The puck deflected in off his skate during a goal-mouth scramble.
The goal was upheld after the NHL Situation Room initiated a video review to determine if Zetterberg kicked in the puck. Cooper then challenged the goal, contending a Red Wings player interfered with Bishop, but it again was upheld.
"It was just a scramble in front," Zetterberg said. "I knew it hit my skate and it was a lot of people there. It was a nice feeling when after all the delays and saw it was a good goal."

Cooper explained his challenge.
"First, I thought it was kicked in. That didn't work," he said. "I thought Zetterberg pushed [Bishop's] pad into the net and didn't give him a chance to make a play."
It was Zetterberg's first goal of the 2016 playoffs, his first in 14 games and second in 27. The Detroit captain has two goals in his past 19 postseason games.
"I thought we played pretty good," Zetterberg said. "We minimized our mistakes, tried to stay out of the box as much as possible, and played in their end."
Tampa Bay killed off a 59-second 5-on-3 power play for Detroit late in the first to keep it scoreless. The Lightning allowed two shots on the two power plays.
Detroit limited Tampa Bay's chances throughout the game, allowing 16 shots on goal after the Lightning had 34 in Game 1 and 31 in Game 2.
"They played well tonight out there," Tampa Bay forward Ryan Callahan said. "They shut us down in the neutral zone."