RECAP: Tarasov stops 31 shots as Red Wings ‘finally get the carrot,’ blank Lightning 2-0

TAMPA -- Becoming the first club to strike down the Tampa Bay Lightning at Benchmark International Arena in the 2026-27 season, Detroit Red Wings also snapped a five-game losing streak with a hard-nosed 2-0 shutout victory on Saturday night.

“We needed this win,” said goalie Daniil Tarasov, who turned aside all 31 shots he faced to record his second shutout in a Winged Wheel sweater and third of his NHL career.  “It was a tough road trip, and we ended it really strong against a really good opponent.”

Detroit (8-10-3, 19 points) avoided coming up empty-handed on its four-game road trip and will play four of its next five contests at Little Caesars Arena. Meanwhile, netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy made 20 saves for Tampa Bay (13-5-2; 28 points).

“Considering some of the past games where I think we’ve had those types of efforts and they haven’t gone our way, it’s good to finally get the carrot,” Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan said. “And like a lot of those other games, good team game starting in the goal. Back end played pretty solid. Our forwards checked. They didn’t make many mistakes, but when they did, we capitalized on one of them and held the fort after that. Penalty kill did a good job as well.”

These Atlantic Division squads kept each other off the scoreboard in the first period, though Detroit was outshot 9-5. Tampa Bay came close at 16:40 when John Carlson’s one-timer slipped behind Tarasov but not over the goal line, and the puck was briefly there for the taking in the blue paint until Andreas Englund quickly swept it away with his stick.

“You’re always going to make mistakes in a game, and the way (Tarasov) plays, he gets us out of those situations and keeps us in the game,” Lucas Raymond said. “That’s all you can ask for from a goalie, and then it’s up to us to score goals, right? Make life as easy as possible for him.

In the second period, only 31 seconds after Tarasov made a great no-look paddle save on Jake Guentzel, the Red Wings opened the scoring at 13:12 — the second time on this trek they recorded the game’s first goal. William Wallinder was below the Lightning’s bench when he hit Raymond in the neutral zone, and the 24-year-old forward took the pass off his skate then converted the breakaway that followed for the 1-0 lead.   

“It was almost like a pass, but a punt as well,” McLellan said of how Wallinder sprung Raymond. “And I thought Lucas did a good job of handling that puck in the air. So, the quarterback threw the ball out in an area and let the receiver go get it.”

Raymond, who has eight goals this season, continues to lead Detroit with 20 points through 21 contests.

“It kind of happens, just one of those plays,” Raymond said. “Great pass by (Wallinder), and had a lot of time there. So. happy it went in.”

Tampa Bay went on the night’s first power play with three seconds to go in the second period, but Detroit killed off that snippet along with the carryover time at the start of the third. Then Tarasov and his teammates fended off another man advantage just before the frame’s halfway mark.

“We had really good structure,” Tarasov said of his club’s penalty kill. “We didn’t give them much, and they just shot it from outside.”

The Red Wings stood their ground after the Lightning pulled Vasilevskiy for an extra attacker late, and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård’s empty-net goal shut the door at 19:17 of the final frame.

Raymond and Andrew Copp, who was playing in his 800th career NHL game, picked up the assists on Brandsegg-Nygård’s fourth tally of the campaign.

“I thought in Florida, it was a different type of (third) period,” McLellan said. “The comeback was bigger. You could feel it building. I didn’t necessarily feel that here. I thought maybe that means we were in better control of the situation, but we did well. We checked and we held the lines fairly well, which is important against a team like this.”

NEXT UP: On Wednesday night, the Red Wings will be back in action when they host the Boston Bruins at Little Caesars Arena.

POSTGAME QUOTES

McLellan on Tarasov

“Just learning about him and how he works at his craft, he’s real coachable and real competitive. In practice, he works really hard. Every puck is important to him. There’s nothing lazy about the rebounds or anything like that, so that’s been impressive and it carries over into his game well.”

McLellan on riding whoever the hot hand is in net

“We’ve been on the road for 18 of the last 20-some days. We’re going to go home. We’re going to relax tomorrow and we’ll take everything into consideration. He obviously played really well and we believe in him.

Postava on what’s helped him feel comfortable so far as a member of the Red Wings

“I’m just trying to be focused on my game. Just making the saves and making the guys’ lives easy. I know they’re playing the same way - working hard in front of me and blocking shots, including some rebounds.”