Game Recap: Detroit Red Wings: 3 – Tampa Bay Lightning: 2

Mar 30, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings center Joakim Andersson (18) scores a goal on Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Ben Bishop (30) in the first period at Joe Louis Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The Red Wings have been good at home recently and were able to beat the Tampa bay Lightning three to two in regulation.

The first period was all Detroit Red Wings; they dominated the play, put more shots on net, and physically took it to the Tampa Bay Lightning, but that did not stop the Lightning from striking first.

Turnovers have been Detroit’s Achilles heal and once again it cost them a goal. Brendan Smith received a bouncing pass, which he could not control and it landed on Valtteri Filppula‘s stick and he was able to blast the puck past Jonas Gustavsson and into the net.

Detroit was able to answer back with a goal by Joakim Andersson, who picked up the rebound of Darren Helm‘s slap shot and backhanded it past Ben Bishop.

A few minutes after the goal, Niklas Kronwall found Ryan Callahan with his head down, lined him up. and laid his patented hits and obliterated Callahan. The crowd instantly started chanting, “You got Kronwalled!”.

Gustav Nyquist took the lead for Detroit by scoring his twenty-seventh goal of the season by battling through a hook and picking the puck up behind the net before tossing the puck into the net from a bad angle. From now on I am not calling it a hot-streak, just the expected outcome of having Gus on the ice.

The second period was a back and forth period between Detroit and Tampa Bay and the refereeing did not help Detroit, but thankfully it did not hurt them either.

Ben Bishop was forced to make big saves on Gustav Nyquist, while Jonas Gustavsson made an incredible save on Barberio to keep the Red Wings ahead by one.

The Red Wings received two penalties that could be called controversial at best. Filppula knocked Gustavsson down, then grabbed onto Quincey and it was Quincey who went to the box. After the first penalty was over a scrum occurred in-front of the Red Wings net and the only penalty called was to Brendan Smith for cross-checking.

During the penalty kill Derren Helm was off to the races before being hauled down by Victor Hedman, no call was made and Mike Babcock did not have nice things to say to the referee.

With four minutes and forty-three seconds left in the period the Red Wings finally received a call in their favor. The Red Wings capitalized on the power play and David Legwand picked up his third goal with the team by setting up shop in front of the net and tipping Johan Franzen‘s soft wrister.

In the third period, The Red Wings and Lightning battled back and forth and both teams were able to get chances on net.

With just under five minutes left in the game, Sami Salo wired a shot between Kyle Quincey‘s legs and past the outstretched arm of Gustavsson. The puck might have tipped off Quincey, but it is a goal that Gustavsson definitely wanted back.

The Red Wings were able to hold off the Lightning, thanks in part to great defensively play from Luke Glendening, Drew Miller, Justin Abdelkader, Niklas Kronwall, Brendan Smith, Danny DeKeyser, and Johan Franzen in the last-minute of the game.

Now to the bullet points:

• The Detroit Red Wings now sit in the first Wild Card spot and are two points ahead of the Blue Jackets.
• After being out of the line-up for as long as Justin Abdelkader was I did not expect the performance that Red Wing fans were treated with, tonight. Abdelkader makes this team better.
• The Red Wings were without Todd Bertuzzi, who was a healthy scratch, but David Legwand was solid in front of the net and I expect him to take over that spot on the power play.
• Jonas Gustavsson had a great game in net for the Wings and could see some more time with a couple more back-to-back games coming up for Detroit.
• Darren Helm’s speed is such an asset for the Red Wings and as long as he stays healthy there will always be a spot for him on the ice.
• Radko Gudas is a dirty player.
• Last, but certainly not least, GUSTAV NYQUIST!

The Red Wings take on the Boston Bruins on Wednesday in Detroit at 8:00 p.m.

I hope you guys enjoyed this recap of the Red Wings game against the Lightning. Take care and thanks for reading.

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