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| Yanni Gourde #37 of the Tampa Bay Lightning pounds gloves with teammates on the bench following his second period goal during an NHL game against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena on January 7, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Dave Reginek/NHLI via Getty Images) |
The Tampa Bay Lightning woke up at the right time to shatter Detroit’s winning streak at Little Caesars Arena Sunday night. The leading Eastern Conference team dominated the Red Wings in the final period to win 5-2. It brought a close to Detroit’s week before their break that ended a four-game success to suffer their 10th consecutive loss to the Lightning.
This remained the Red Wings biggest challenge before they went on a five-day break and a four-game winning streak. After defeating the Florida Panthers 4-2 on Friday, the one that they knew would cause them trouble was the second league leading Lightning who have always been the hardest for Detroit to compete against.
Tampa came off back to back losses which gave the Red Wings reasons to win but also a huge reason for them to regroup. Petr Mrazek got the rare start to go in between the pipes for the first time since Dec. 19. With the hope that he can match the skills of Jimmy Howard who was on a four straight victories, the Czech would give it a shot against the best team in the NHL.
They came out sticks hot firing away at Mrazek and kept on through the first seven minutes of the first period. A tense moment came for the 25-year-old Czech netminder as a stretch pass from Viktor Hedman from the far boards got to team scorer Nikita Kucherov who went in alone on Mrazek. The Red Wings netminder followed the puck and kept it clear with his pads but was taken out of teammate Jonathan Ericsson. Mrazek scrambled back just in time to deny Steven Stamkos with an empty net shot that sent cheers through the crowds.
While it was good work on Detroit they fell under the continuing onslaught where the lightning scored at 11:04 with Dan Girardi redirecting a shot from Vladimir Namestnikov for his third of the season. Detroit tried to get on the puck and send some pucks in the direction of Louie Domingue in net for the Lightning. The young hot shots came up short putting too much on the puck or timing out their scoring chance incorrectly.
Tampa made them pay for it with another good show of force where they found Detroit sleeping. A pass from Girardi to Tyler Johnson who had an open net and no one defending him fired away and got it through Mrazek who came back fast to attempt to stop it but didn’t giving Johnson his 13th. Frustrations were getting to the Red Wings as Dylan Larkin smashed Ondrej Palat into the glass which upset his teammates. Brayden Point came in to lay a few on Larkin before the 21-year-old could react. He got a few despite taking a cut to the face but it definitely woke up the Red Wings to get into the game offensively.
Another fight came in the shape of Justin Abdelkader getting hit by Kucherov. Teammate Trevor Daley went after the Russian before he was sent to the box giving Detroit a power play with 2:45 left. They got another one as the physical hits continued to come from Tampa. They lit a fire of aggression in the Red Wings who didn’t turn down a fight from anyone. Tomas Tatar got into one during the man advantage with Yanni Gourde after Tatar was slashed by Hedman. The period ended with a lot of punches thrown but no difference to the score as Tampa still led by two.
The rest of the power play didn’t help to begin the second but they were on a mission to get into contention fast. After three minutes, a chance came for Gustav Nyquist as he came in with Danny DeKeyser skating across from him. The Swede faked a pass and fired a wrister to get Detroit on the board and record his 14th. The shots increased greatly for Detroit as the margin was within their reach after pressuring Domingue through several more minutes of play.
A power play helped out that saw Tatar getting close once again with the puck going off the post. He showed tremendous frustration but coming so close but neither he nor his team were giving up. A bigger opportunity came to them in a 5 on 3 that didn’t last long but the penalties taken by Tampa were concerning. A different sort of concern occurred with 6:31 left as Girardi dived to stop a shot and took it square in the face, not getting up from it. He eventually made it up on his skates and was helped to the locker room to be evaluated.
Before the period came to a finish, the Lightning changed things up on the scoreboard and made it a 3-1 lead with Gourde scoring one under some scrutiny. Video showed that Alex Killorn interfered with Mrazek for him to unable to recover in time to get into position to stop the second chance. Detroit challenged the play but lost as referees awarded Tampa the goal and Gourde his 13th. It was a blow for the Red Wings to take as they were playing as the strongest team showing another 14 against the Lightning.
It paid off greatly in the opening minutes with Abdelkader firing one that beat the glove of Domingue to bring the Red Wings within one again. Their fight continued as getting the tying goal against Tampa was harder than ever before. Time was falling off the clock with the Lightning in good position to defend well and support Domingue who was closing in on a strong finish.
The shots were even between the teams but a difference maker in favor of the Lightning made Detroit’s night difficult to accomplish. A win for the Lightning on the faceoff in the Detroit zone quickly went to Kucherov to fire a one-timer at Mrazek getting into the net for his 27th on the year. It opened the door for them to dominate the third period and take a 5-2 run on the Red Wings with Gourde gaining his second of the night.
It was a score that would hold up for the first-place leaders of the Atlantic Division as they played the final two minutes of regulation bringing an end to their two-game skid. It was their 30th win of the season that kept them well ahead of their division rivals. Domingue picked up a well-deserved win stopping 34 shots from the Red Wings for his first win this season and a .944 save percentage.
Detroit would try to put the lone loss they have on their heads and get to Saturday where they would once again take on the Pittsburgh Penguins.
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