After a slow start, the Detroit Red Wings (0-4-2) are still looking for their first win of the 2018-19 season. They will attempt to do so on the road against the 3-1 Tampa Bay Lightning in this Atlantic Division game.
In the Steve Yzerman era of Tampa Bay, The Captain’s former team has fared especially poorly against his current one. The Detroit Red Wings are 6-18 against the Lightning since Yzerman took over in 2010. What’s more, only one of those six wins came on the road. Perhaps–now that Yzerman has stepped aside–the Red Wings’ luck can change.
Tampa Bay center, Tyler Johnson, is coming off a hat trick on Tuesday night. As a result, he now leads his team with 5 points and may continue his hot streak tonight. Another offensive producer for the Lightning has been 22-year-old, Brayden Point. He has been seeing the ice a lot this season and has some goals to back it up. If the Red Wings are going to succeed, defenders have to smother the dynamic Lightning centers.
For the Red Wings, Tyler Bertuzzi is a player to watch tonight. Despite not getting on the ice as much as some of his fellow wingers, he has been one of the most effective players at both ends of the ice. Pay attention to the Red Wings defense as well. Because of injuries, they have fielded a defense by committee this year. This makes it difficult to judge what level of experience we will get.
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The power play unit for the Red Wings has been surprisingly effective, scoring 5 goals in nearly 30% of tries. This is significantly better than any previous teams during coach Jeff Blashill’s tenure. Meanwhile, the Lightning have not allowed a goal in 18 power plays for a perfect 100%. An interesting pairing like this could lead to a Red Wings PP goal and the first blemish on Tampa Bay’s penalty kill unit.
Key Stat: The Detroit Red Wings have given up a league-worst 4.8 goals per game. Granted, the Bruins scored 8, and the Canadiens dropped 7 on the Wings in the previous two games. In an even smaller sample size, however, the Lightning have shown they can score, putting up 8 of their own against Columbus on Saturday. All of this may have something to do with injury status. As previously mentioned, the Red Wings are riddled with injuries, while the Lightning are quite healthy.
Probable Goalies: Jimmy Howard (Detroit) 3.98 GAA, 0.883 SV% and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay) 1.64 GAA | 0.95 SV%
Opposing Blog: Bolts by the Bay
TV/Radio: Fox Sports Detroit, WXYT
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa Bay, FL
Odds: Lightning -305
Prediction: The Detroit Red Wings will have to wait a few more days for their first win. The defense is still banged up, and until the top lines are healthy, we may see more goals allowed than scored. The streak (curse?) is noteworthy as well. The Wings have lost 11 straight games to Tampa Bay. In fact, you have to go back to November of 2015 to find the last Red Wings’ victory against the Lightning. But streaks are made to be broken. Right?