The Penultimate Contest: Red Wings at Lightning

Game Eighty-One: Detroit Red Wings (41-30-9) at Tampa Bay Lightning (49-25-6)

Time: 7:00 PM EST

Location: Benchmark International Arena, Tampa – Where the arena DJ once played “Don’t Stop Believing” after the Lightning beat the Red Wings in a playoff game and some folks got really mad about it.

TV/Stream/Radio: The Spot, FDSNDET, ESPN+, 102.5 FM, Lightning App

Odds: Lightning -200

Know the Opponents: Winging it in Motown

For the first time in what seems like forever, the Tampa Bay Lightning are lining up against a team that really doesn’t have anything to play for. With their loss on Saturday, the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from playoff contention, and are swinging through the state of Florida with little to play for except pride. The Lightning haven’t played an opponent that wasn’t scratching and clawing for either a spot in the postseason, or at the top of the division since they faced the Calgary Flames back on March 22nd.

Does that mean the intensity is going to be dialed down a little? It’s hard to say. It’s also hard to say exactly who might be in the line-up tonight. Yes, the Lightning still have a chance to finish atop of their division. They also have a chance to finish ahead of Montreal for home ice in the first round should they not catch Buffalo. Unfortunately, they also have quite a few banged-up players that may benefit from a night off before the long, rough march through the playoffs begin.

Zemgus Girgensons and Darren Raddysh were the latest Bolts to miss a game, and while Brandon Hagel returned to play against the Bruins, he didn’t appear to be 100%. Even the ESPN/ABC crew that was broadcasting the game speculated that he might sit out the next two as the Bolts get ready for their first round. In net, Andrei Vasilevskiy has appeared in 57 games already this year. Could he be scratched for one of the next two games in order to have some extra rest prior to the playoffs?

Detroit is muddling through the end of their season and have a few players that are less than 100% as well. With nothing really on the table for them, could shut some folks down early. On Sunday they announced that forward Michael Brandsegg-Nygard was recalled from Grand Rapids under emergency conditions, so it’s likely at least one of their forwards isn’t going to play.

While this game might lack the importance it might have had if Detroit was still in the race, don’t expect it to be a glorified exhibition. Coming off of a 1-3 road trip that included a couple of games where they were played off the ice for much of the night, the Lightning want to get into their good playoff habits. They’ve done it a few times over the last few games, but usually when they were already trailing, which was almost the entire road trip (Emil Lilleberg’s late third period goal against Boston was literally the first lead they had in any game during the trip).

The Bolts are going to want to control the front of the nets on both sides of the ice and start getting back to the cycle play/possession game that generates a lot of scoring chances for them. In the meantime, Detroit has some folks that will be looking to impress their coaching staff as they look to get a leg up on playing time for next season. Also, they will be more than happy to keep the Bolts from advancing up the standings and gaining any type of home ice advantage.

These two teams tend to play some fun games when they match up against each other, and there shouldn’t be any reason to expect anything less in the penultimate game of the season.

Potential Lines

Tampa Bay Lightning

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Detroit Red Wings

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