The Lightning Strike Down The Detroit Red Wings In A Shootout
By John Curran
Nov 9, 2014; Detroit, MI, USA; Detroit Red Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey (27) and Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Ryan Callahan (24) fight for position with in the third period at Joe Louis Arena. Tampa Bay won 4-3 in an overtime shootout. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
The Red Wings came into tonight’s game hoping to slow down the streaking and offensively explosive Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning, who played last night in Columbus, have won their last 5 games and are enjoying one of their best starts in franchise history. The Wings have earned points in 5 of their last 6 contests and were seeking 2 crucial points in tonight’s Atlantic Division match-up.
Detroit would once again be without the help of Pavel Datsyuk due to a groin injury but would be getting veteran (and much improved) defenseman Kyle Quincey back after recovering from a minor ankle related injury.
It was obvious that Tampa had played last night as the Red Wings were the better skating team through the first half of the first period. Jimmy Howard looked sharp on Tampa’s first few shot attempts. Detroit had the first power play opportunity of the game after Ryan Callahan was called for interference against Howard. It only took the Red Wings 4 seconds into the power-play for Johan Franzen to rip a slapshot past Ben Bishop after Gustav Nyquist won the face-off in the Tampa zone and dropped it back to Kronwall who passed it over to Franzen. The Wings continued to move the puck well and applied pressure after Franzen’s goal which lead to Ben Bishop pushing down Nyquist as he skated in-front of the net. Detroit’s second power-play attempt was fairly uneventful and seemed to wake up the Lightning.
Tampa looked as if they began to find their legs and started to up the pressure on Jimmy Howard and the Wings. Howard was up to the task and made some good saves but the pressure eventually lead to Kyle Quincey being called for interference against Vladislav Namestnikov. Nine seconds into the Detroit penalty-kill Luke Glendening was called for delay of game after putting the puck over the glass and giving one the NHL’s highest scoring teams a 5 on 3 power-play opportunity. The Wings played the 5 on 3 well but Steven Stamkos was able to put the equalizer behind Howard with only 22 seconds left on the two-man advantage.
As the opening period wound down the Red Wings were once again given a power-play chance after Radko Gudas was called for slashing after being taken down behind the play by Franzen. Detroit moved the puck well and got off a few good shots on Bishop but were unable to score before the period ended.
Detroit started the second period by finishing off what time was left on the Gudas penalty. The Wings were unable to capitalize on the power-play and were back to even-strength hockey. Just over two minutes into the period Steven Stamkos proved why he is on the elite goal scorers in the league by catching the Wings on a line-change and ringing a beautiful wrist shot off the crossbar and over the goal-line. Stamkos raised his hands in celebration but play had continued on as the puck bounced in and out of the net so quickly it took video review to confirm the go-ahead goal.
About a minute and a half after Stamkos’ second goal of the evening the Wings were once again called for delay of game after Riley Sheahan put the puck out of play. The Red Wings were able to kill off the Tampa power-play but shortly afterwards the Lightning once again took advantage of a sloppy Detroit line-change and scored their third goal of the night on a slapshot by Tyler Johnson. As Mickey Redmond pointed out the Lightning were “making goal scoring look easy”. Coach Babcock called his timeout and tried to rally his troops.
The Red Wings had their third power-play chance halfway through the period after Cedric Paquette was called for a Tripping penalty against Tomas Tatar. The Wings kept their power-play streak going and Darren Helm was able to get his first goal of the year by ripping a long slap shot over Bishop’s glove to bring the Wings back within one. The Wings finished off the second period by killing off a Jakub Kindl high sticking penalty and having the Swedes (Franzen,Zetterberg,Nyquist) put some late period pressure on Bishop.
The third period saw the Red Wings apply their best offensive pressure of the game. Zetterberg had one of Detroit’s best scoring chances of the game early on but had the puck snatched up by the glove hand of Ben Bishop. Tampa seemed to begin to feel the effects of playing the night before as the Wings continued to pile on the pressure. It would be none other than Gustav Nyquist who would tie the game up at 3 by scoring on his first shot of the game and the Red Wings’ 14th overall. Nyquist was able to come off the bench and grab the puck at the blue line and thread his way through the Tampa defense in Datsyukian fashion before putting a wrister behind Bishop.
Nyquist’s goal sparked both the Wings and the Detroit crowd. Detroit and Tampa both continued to apply pressure and the Wings were able to play their puck-possession game but neither team was able to score the game-winner before regulation time expired. After a dry-scrape of the ice the Wings really poured it on during the overtime period by having some really energetic and determined shifts. At one point it seemed to everyone at home and in attendance that Niklas Kronwall was about to bury the winning shot but Bishop was able to slide into position and use his big frame to stop the shot. Jimmy Howard also made a huge stretching goal-line save late in the extra period preventing the Lightning from poking the puck in.
So as the overtime period expired the Wings found themselves heading to a shootout for the second time this season. Detroit’s first two shooters Nyquist and Tatar were unable to fool/score on big Ben Bishop. Tampa’s first shooter Ryan Callahan was able to out maneuver Jimmy Howard and put the eventual game-winner in the net. Darren Helm was unable to play hero on Detroit’s third and final shot after being unable to catch up to a puck he pushed too far.
In conclusion, Detroit was able to do what they haven’t done in the last few games by finding their legs early and starting on time but it would be early penalties and defensive breakdowns that would ultimately cost the Wings. Another positive from tonight’s game was that the Red Wings’ power-play unit seems to be clicking as they were able to score 2 of their 3 goals with the man-advantage. Tampa is a high scoring team with a big world-class goalie who will capitalize on any chance they are given. It’s unfortunate the game had to come down to a shootout because the Wings competed hard and seemed to have Tampa on the ropes at times, especially during the later stages of the game.
We skated hard, had an entertaining/exciting game and managed to squeeze out a point against our divisional leader. It could always be worse. Try to enjoy the 4 day break Hockeytown and don’t stop believing.