The Red Wings outshot the Lightning in all three periods. After finishing the opening frame with a 12-9 advantage, Detroit outshot Tampa Bay 20-3 in the second and 13-6 in the third, but could not solve opposing goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"We put a lot of shots at him and that's the story of the game," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said. "We just couldn't get one by him. I think we played a pretty good hockey game tonight against a good team, but he was their answer tonight."
The Lightning opened the scoring at 9:04 of the first period. After taking a 2-0 lead into the second intermission, Tampa Bay put the game out of reach with an empty netter late in the third.
Ville Husso, playing his 100th career NHL game, made 15 saves in the loss for Detroit (28-22-8; 64 points). With the win, Tampa Bay improved to 37-17-4 (78 points) on the season.
"We're not gonna win out," Larkin said. "It would be awesome if we did, but it's pretty unrealistic. We have to keep responding well. We're treating this like our playoffs right now, because it is. We're fighting for our lives."
Michael Rasmussen exited Saturday's game early in the opening frame after blocking a shot from Lightning defenseman Zack Bogosian and did not return.
Speaking to the media after the game, Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said Rasmussen sustained a lower-body injury but did not have an immediate update on the 23-year-old forward.
"Just took a puck in the kneecap," Lalonde said. "He's back with the doctors right now, so we'll know before we take off tomorrow."
NEXT UP: Detroit will travel to face the Ottawa Senators on Monday night at Canadian Tire Centre, marking the first of back-to-back games between the Atlantic Division opponents.
