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 "If the playoffs started today, that's the team we're going to face.
Everyone knows how the standings look," said defenseman Victor
Hedman, who continued to show off his offensive side with two
assists. "It's good to know we can play them."
The Lightning (44-21-7) came in with a six-point lead on Detroit
(38-21-11) for second place in the Atlantic, but with the Red Wings
having two extra games remaining, the win helps extend Tampa Bay's
lead and keeps pressure on first-place Montreal.
Detroit -- now 0-3 against Tampa Bay this season -- had pressure on
late, trying to tie the game after pulling its goalie for the final
two minutes, but center Steven Stamkos sped down the ice and punched
in a long, slow shot by forward Brian Boyle for an empty-net goal to
clinch the win with 28 seconds remaining.
"He wants to win the game," coach Jon Cooper said. "That was going
to help us win the game and that was a really good effort by him."
Tampa Bay, which hadn't played since Monday and had two days
completely off this week, outlasted a Detroit team that lost 3-1 at
the Florida Panthers on Thursday night. Red Wings left winger Henrik
Zetterberg downplayed the rest aspect of the game.
"I think we felt better today than we did yesterday. We had better
legs," he said. "I didn't think that was the difference. Maybe it
looked different from the stands, but we had good jump today."
The first half of the third was a defensive stand, with Detroit not
even taking a shot in the first 9:49 of the period. Shortly after,
the Lightning broke through for the lead, as rookie left winger
Jonathan Drouin stole the puck and left a trailing pass for Hedman,
who flipped a crossing pass to center Alex Killorn, who found the
right edge of the net for his 15th goal of the season.
"I thought Hedman was outstanding. He played the full 200 feet,"
Cooper said. "He was moving, he was skating. If you were going to
pick the best player on the ice tonight, it would be hard not to say
it was him."
Hedman got his 27th assist on the play and Drouin his 26th, giving
the Lightning a 2-1 lead with 9:29 left. Tampa Bay was called for a
shift penalty for having too many men on the ice 52 seconds later,
but the Lightning killed off the penalty -- against the NHL's top
power play -- to preserve the lead.
Lightning goalie Ben Bishop had 30 saves for the win, extending
Tampa Bay's franchise record with the team's 28th home win of the
season. Detroit pulled its goalie for the final two minutes, but the
Lightning defense held on for the win.
Tampa Bay jumped ahead early in the second period, with defense
generating offense for the Lightning. A long shot by Hedman
rebounded right to defenseman Anton Stralman, who fired a shot past
Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard for his seventh goal of the season and a
1-0 Lightning lead.
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Hedman was called for tripping with 13:30 left in the second, and
early into the ensuing power play, Detroit tied the game. Defenseman
J.T. Brown couldn't clear a puck behind goalie Ben Bishop, and left
winger Tomas Tatar poked the puck in for his 26th goal of the season
for a 1-1 score.
The Lightning got a boost with the early return of left winger
Ondrej Palat, who returned after missing only three games with a
lower-body injury. Originally thought to be out two-to-three weeks,
Palat got two assists, giving him 39, one behind center Tyler
Johnson's team lead.
Friday's game could easily be an opening-round playoff preview --
the Lightning are in second place in the Atlantic Division, coming
in six points ahead of Detroit, which has two games in hand. Tampa
Bay won the first two meetings this season, including a 5-1 home
win, and the two teams meet one more time in Detroit on March 28.
"Everyone knows right now this would be the matchup. It would be a
good matchup," Zetterberg said. "Both teams probably would like to
play against each other. We'll see how it goes down the stretch."
NOTES: LW Ondrej Palat returned Friday night after missing just a
week (three games). The Lightning are still without C Cedric
Paquette, who missed a fourth game with an upper-body injury. D
Nikita Nesterov was a healthy scratch. ... Detroit played without C
Pavel Datsyuk for a 13th game due to a lower-body injury, with G
Jonas Gustavsson missing his 41st game with a head injury. D Jakub
Kindl, RW Daniel Cleary and C Stephen Weiss were also scratches. ...
Tampa Bay continues a six-game homestand on Sunday evening against
the Boston Bruins, while Detroit returns home to open up a
three-game set, starting against the St. Louis Blues on Sunday.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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