Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

Red Wings fall to Lightning in Game 2

Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey
Photo by Michael Caples/MiHockey

 

By @MichaelCaples –

The good news is that the Red Wings return home for their next game.

The bad news is that they trail the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-0 in their best-of-seven series.

On two third-period goals from Tyler Johnson, the Lightning recorded a 5-2 victory Friday night in Tampa Bay, assuming a commanding lead in their first-round series with the Red Wings in the process.

Dylan Larkin and Brad Richards scored the only goals for the Red Wings, as Tampa’s Ben Bishop stopped 30 of the 32 shots sent his way.

Nikita Kucherov and Brian Boyle also scored for the Lightning, while Alex Killorn added an empty-netter.

Jimmy Howard stopped 26 of 30 shots in his second outing of the 2016 playoffs.

In a game that featured 13 penalties, the Wings weren’t able to capitalize on the man advantage until the third period on Richards’ goal; they finished 1-for-5 on the power play.

The game ended with a pile-up in front of the Tampa Bay net in the final minute of regulation, with Justin Abdelkader punching away at Mike Blunden and Ryan Callahan restraining Larkin. Richards started the altercation with a hefty slash on Andrej Sustr.

Kucherov scored the lone goal of the first period, breaking a scoreless tie at the 15:17 mark of the opening frame with a one-timer on a power play.

Detroit out-shot Tampa Bay 15-12 in the first 20 minutes of play, but still entered the locker room trailing 1-0 for the first intermission.

Larkin scored the Red Wings’ first goal of the night at the 3:30 mark of the second period. The Waterford native left the penalty box at the conclusion of his hooking penalty and cut behind the Lightning defense, beating everyone to the puck in the Tampa zone and rifling a shot through Bishop’s legs.

It was the first playoff goal for the 19-year-old rookie forward; Larkin is the first Wings teenager since Keith Primeau (1991) to score a postseason goal.

Boyle regained the lead for the Lightning three minutes later, scoring on a three-on-two rush up the ice by Tampa Bay.

The second period finished with the Red Wings holding a 23-21 shot advantage.

Early in the third period, Detroit was finally able to take advantage of a power-play opportunity. With Riley Sheahan screening the goaltender, Richards sent a shot to the top left corner to tie the game 2-2.

However, the Lightning responded two minutes later, as Johnson managed to get his stick on a loose puck after Killorn’s wraparound try led to a scramble in the Wings’ goal crease.

Johnson scored on a one-timer blast from the slot while Luke Glendening was hobbling to the bench at the 14:48 mark of the third period. That goal increased Tampa Bay’s lead to 4-2 late in the contest.

Killorn extended the lead with the empty-net goal on a clearing attempt that slowly entered the Red Wings’ goal with 2:44 remaining in regulation.