Despite two goals (that counted) for Steven Stamkos, the Tampa Bay Lightning dropped their first road contest of the season, 6-4, to the Detroit Red Wings. Along with the two tallies from Stamkos, Brandon Hagel and Victor Hedman added goals. Stamkos and Hedman finished with 3 points while Nikita Kucherov had 2 assists. Jonas Johansson stopped 34 of 39 shots in his second game with the Bolts.
It was another solid start for the Lightning as they controlled the first few minutes of the game, but unlike their last game, they couldn’t find a goal as Ville Husso stood staunchly in net for the Red Wings. The Wings started to tilt the ice, led by their top line of Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, and Lucas Raymond, and a few hits that energized the crowd:
Daniel Sprong drew first blood after Erik Cernak tried to backhand a pass through a dangerous area that was cut off by DeBrincat. The initial shot was stopped by Johansson, but it sat on the goal line and Sprong was able to tap it home.
Playing with an 11/7 line-up, the Bolts were able to generate some chances off the rush and it looked like Stamkos had tied it up on a goalmouth scramble, but a review determined he had knocked the puck in with his hand. A few minutes later, Kucherov led the attack into the zone, dropped a pass to Hedman who was steaming down the slot. The Big Swede dished it off to a wide-open Stamkos who slammed it home for a goal that left no need for a review from Toronto.
Despite some chaotic play in their own zone, mostly caused by the Larkin line that combined for 20 shot attempts and 8 scoring chances on the night, the Lightning took the lead. Hedman blocked a shot and then sent Hagel away with a perfect stretch pass. Hagel was behind the defense in a flash and beat Husso cleanly. That would pretty much be the high-point for the Lightning.
From that point on, the Bolts struggled a bit with odd-man rushes, turnovers, and constant pressure in their own zone. DeBrincat picked up his first goal of the game with just over five minutes left when his shot was deflected, hit the ice, and took a wicked bounce up and over Johansson’s shoulder.
Just two minutes into the middle frame, Larkin forced a turnover on Hedman and the puck came to Lucas Raymond. His shot went between Conor Sheary’s legs and past Johansson before the goaltender could get set. It wouldn’t have been a tough save, but the new Lightning netminder was a tad late in squaring himself to the shot.
After that goal, Johansson kept the Lightning in the game as the Red Wings dialed up the pressure with 13 of the next 14 shot attempts, including 7 shots on goal. However, they decided to let Steven Stamkos cruise into a good shooting location and The Captain roofed one over Husso’s glove and off the underside of the bar for his second goal of the game. Despite being outplayed for much of the game, the Lightning managed to tie it.
They also settled things down a bit defensively, but a wicked deflection by J.T. Compher put them down a goal heading into the third period. Another 2-on-0 rush by the Larkin/DeBrincat duo put them down even farther five minutes into the final frame when DeBrincat finished off the rush.
Victor Hedman drew them within a goal with just over ten minutes to go in the game as he wristed a shot past a screened Husso. The Bolts pulled the goaltender with 2:22 to go, and despite some solid zone time, they couldn’t really get any solid shots onto the net. They did manage one goalmouth scramble, but a quick whistle from the ref stopped the play before they could capitalize. Moritz Seider flipped a puck from his own blueline that managed to go into the empty net with a less than a second left on the clock to make the final score 6-4.
The Bolts won’t have long to dwell on the missed chances as they square off against the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night.
The Lines:
The Goals
Daniel Sprong (Alex DeBrincat) 1-0 Red Wings
Steven Stamkos (Victor Hedman, Nikita Kucherov) 1-1
Brandon Hagel (Victor Hedman) 2-1 Bolts
Alex DeBrincat (Shayne Gostisbehere, Dylan Larkin) 2-2
Lucas Raymond (unassisted) 3-2 Red Wings
Steven Stamkos (Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli) 3-3
J.T. Compher (Moritz Seider, Andrew Copp) 4-3 Red Wings
Alex DeBrincat (Dylan Larkin) 5-3 Red Wings
Victor Hedman (Nikita Kucherov, Steven Stamkos) Power Play, 5-4 Red Wings
Mortiz Seider (J.T. Compher) Empty Net 6-4 Red Wings
