Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings preview: Can Tampa extend its winning streak against Detroit?

Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings: Game 69

Time: 7:00 pm Eastern Time

Location: Amalie Arena

Broadcast/Streaming: FS-D

Opponent SBNation Site: Winging It In Motown

Preview

The Lightning shockingly lost their last game to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night. The team was held goalless for the second time this season, and that’s not something you would expect from a team which lead the whole league in goals.

The Bolts close their four-game homestand tonight and will play most of their remaining games (9 of 13) on the road. It’s also their third game against Detroit this season. They defeated the Red Wings both times, although last game ended 6-5 with a shootout win for the Lightning. But recently Detroit have been a very favorable opponent for Tampa. The teams will meet twice this week.

The Red Wings are at the bottom of the standings, waiting for this season to be over and hoping to get a high draft pick. They are slowly trying to add young players to their roster. Nineteen year old center Michael Rasmussen has already played 55 games this season and even earned himself time on the first power play unit. Last year’s first rounder Filip Zadina has also been recalled recently from the AHL and scored his first NHL goal against the Avalanche. While not so old themselves, Dylan Larkin and Anthony Mantha are established as team leaders.

Unfortunately, Dylan Larkin won’t be able to help his team against the Lightning. He will miss both back-to-back games this weekend due to back issues. More bad news for the team is Mike Green will miss the rest of the season due to a virus, the same reason why he missed first nine games of the season.

The Lightning will also change their line-up due to injuries. Anton Stralman is listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Jan Rutta has been recalled from the Syracuse Crunch.

Tampa has clinched a playoff spot after the Canadiens lost to the Ducks in regulation. It was pretty obvious for a long time, but this is still good news, right? The Lightning will very likely end this regular season in first place in the league and can focus on preparing for the postseason.