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Red Wings’ season comes to a close with 1-0 loss in Tampa Bay

MiHockey Staff
Photo by Mike Miller/MiHockey
Photo by Mike Miller/MiHockey

 

By @MichaelCaples –

With 1:43 remaining in regulation, everything changed.

In a game where the Red Wings were sending plenty of viable scoring chances Ben Bishop’s way, it was what seemed to be a harmless dump-in by the Lightning that turned out to be the game-winning goal.

Ryan Callahan skated the puck across the red line and fired it into the Red Wings’ zone. Petr Mrazek tried to send the puck to Jonathan Ericsson along the boards behind the Detroit goal, and Callahan intercepted the puck and sent it towards the goal. There, Alex Killorn chipped the puck past a scrambling Mrazek to give the Lightning the game’s first lead.

That’s how it would end, despite a late power play for the Red Wings. The Lightning recorded a 1-0 victory Thursday night on home ice to eliminate Detroit in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.

“We played certainly good enough to win the hockey game tonight, we’re well aware of that,” coach Jeff Blashill told Fox Sports Detroit’s Trevor Thompson after the game. “All four losses, we were tied in the third period, and they were able to make plays in the third and we weren’t – that’s the difference in the series.”

Bishop stopped all 34 shots the Red Wings took in the decisive game, stopping numerous chances from a team trying to avoid elimination and force one more game at Joe Louis Arena. Now, the Red Wings’ season comes to an end, and the off-season questions – like if Pavel Datsyuk will return – begin.

The Wings’ Russian superstar – who told the Detroit Free Press he was retiring at the end of the season then switched to a ‘maybe’ in later interviews – played 20:33 in his final game of the 2015-16 season. He recorded three shots and 15 face-off wins.

He told reporters after the game that he needs time before making a final decision.

In the series, Tampa Bay kept Datsyuk from recording a single point. He had 18 shots on goal in the five games.

Datsyuk’s Eurotwin partner – captain Henrik Zetterberg – scored only one goal in the series, as well, in a five-game set where the Wings were desperate for offensive leadership.

The Red Wings scored only one power-play goal on 25 opportunities during the series – a success rate of only 4 percent.

“Five-on-five, I thought we played well,” Zetterberg said of the series as a whole via FSD’s postgame broadcast. “They won the special-teams battle. Their best players outplayed our best players. We’ve got to produce more, including me, I’m probably one of the guys that, with the ice time I have, have to do more. I couldn’t do that this playoff, and that’s hard.”

Other than the error on the exchange between he and Ericsson, Mrazek was perfect on the night, just like Bishop. The 24-year-old goaltender stopped 23 of the 24 shots he faced in the Game 5 loss.

Mrazek finishes the 2016 postseason with a 1-2 record, but also with a .945 save percentage and 1.36 goals-against average.

The game started with a major opportunity for the visitors, as a too-many-men penalty and a crosschecking call on Jason Garrison gave the Red Wings a lengthy five-on-three power play. Datsyuk beat Bishop with a shot, only to see the puck hit the right post and stay out of the Lightning goal. From there, Tampa Bay was able to kill off both of the penalties, and avoid an early deficit.

Detroit killed off two separate penalties throughout the rest of the first period, taking care of minors on Gustav Nyquist (slashing) at the 9:06 mark and Niklas Kronwall at the 19:21 mark.

The Red Wings held a 9-8 shot advantage through 20 minutes of play.

Breakaway chances were the theme of the second period, and they all went to the Red Wings. First, it was Riley Sheahan freeing himself for a shorthanded rush four minutes in, only to be stopped on a five-hole try by Bishop. Eight minutes later, Darren Helm took a pass from Danny DeKeyser in stride for a chance of his own – right leg pad save by Bishop. It was Larkin on the third try, being stopped on a wrist shot with 1:30 left in the second period.

Detroit finished the second period with a 14-6 advantage in the shots department but still no goals to show for it.

In the third period, the chances continued, but the Red Wings could not find a way to get a shot past Bishop. Detroit fired 11 more shots his way, and Bishop stopped them all.