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3 months ago: Detroit Red Wings Drew Miller, right, flies through the air while scoring a goal on Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Mike Smith, below, in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Detroit, Thursday, Dec. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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The Tampa Bay Lightning lost to the Detroit Red Wings 3-0.

This game was very much within reach for the Lightning. Detroit was decimated by injuries and weren’t playing that well. The score stayed 1-0 up until over six and a half minutes into the third period.

But they didn’t. They were unable to put together a sustained effort that would’ve led them into tying things up and perhaps winning this game. Oh, at times they looked good. They had a couple of very good power plays, despite nothing coming from them. But they couldn’t finish.

In fact, the second goal broke them. I realize that they’re in the middle of a losing streak, having lost 10 of their last 11 games, and this game being their sixth loss in a row. But we’ve seen this team come back to at least tie things up when they were four goals down. And they buckle after being down by only two? That should tell you everything you need to know about their confidence right there.

One of the few bright spots were penalties. Detroit is one of the least penalized teams in the NHL, while the Lightning are one of the most. For one night, however, they were able to limit the Wings to only two power play chances, which they didn’t convert on. The downside is that the Lightning had five power plays and were unable to convert on any of theirs as well.

Their next game is tonight at 8 pm Eastern at the St. Louis Blues.

Lightning vs Red Wings coverage [SB Nation]

Winging It In Motown [SB Nation Detroit Red Wings site]

Lightning vs Red Wings recap [TSN]

Lightning vs Red Wings boxscore [TSN]