|
 Less than two minutes after a Lightning goal was called off on
replay, Nikita Kucherov -- who already had scored two goals -- poked
the puck loose behind the Detroit goal and fed it wide to Tyler
Johnson, who fired a shot across the net that Killorn redirected
past goalie Jimmy Howard for a 3-2 lead with 11:08 to play.
Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop made that lead stand, finishing with 34
saves, including five in the final 1:10 after Detroit pulled its
goalie for an extra attacker.
The Lightning, who play host to Game 2 on Friday night with a 1-0
series lead, looked to have taken the lead with 13:05 left in the
third period on a goal by defenseman Victor Hedman, but Detroit
challenged and replays showed Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin was
offside as Tampa Bay advanced the puck. The score remained tied, but
not even for another two minutes.
Neither team could convert on power plays -- Detroit went 0 of 5 and
Tampa Bay was 0 of 4.
 Detroit had a power play early in the third period after a
cross-checking penalty against Tampa Bay's Jonathan Drouin but
couldn't score.
Tampa Bay entered the playoffs without two of the best players. Top
scorer Steven Stamkos and defenseman Anton Stralman were both
injured during the final two weeks of the regular season.
The home team won all four meetings in the regular season, and the
Lightning were able to continue that. A year ago, Tampa Bay lost at
home in an opening-round series against Detroit before rallying to
win in seven games.
A back-and-forth game went to the third period tied 2-2, with the
Lightning responding after the Red Wings went ahead with two goals
in less than two minutes.
Tampa Bay tied the score on Kucherov's second goal of the game.
Defenseman Braydon Coburn took the puck in a wide circle to the left
of the goal, then fed a pass to Kucherov, who poked in his own
rebound past Howard with 10:31 left in the period.
Detroit had flipped a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead early in the
second period on two long shots.
[to top of second column] |
Mike Green scored on a knuckler past the stick of Tampa Bay's J.T.
Brown to tie the score with 17:49 left in the period. Then another
long shot by Kyle Quincey was redirected in front of the net by
Justin Abdelkader just 116 seconds later for a 2-1 lead.
The game had a major fight in the second period that put five
players in the penalty box -- Detroit's Darren Helm, Danny DeKeyser
and Dylan Larkin for two minutes each for roughing and Coburn for
four minutes and Killorn for two minutes for interference.
Tampa Bay had jumped ahead early on a Kucherov goal. Killorn
backhanded a pass off the boards to Johnson, who sped up the ice and
fed Kucherov on the far side to beat Howard for a 1-0 lead with
13:37 left in the first period.
Kucherov scored 30 goals in the regular season, and with Stamkos out
recovering from surgery to address a blood clot near a collarbone,
he came in as the Lightning's leading scorer among the healthy
players.
NOTES: The Lightning, riddled with injuries in the final weeks of
the regular season, got several key players back for the playoff
opener, though top scorer Steven Stamkos (blood clot) and defenseman
Anton Stralman (broken leg) are both likely to miss the opening
series. The good news? Forward Tyler Johnson, who was shoved after
the whistle and hit his head on the boards late in the season
finale, was cleared to play after returning to practice Tuesday.
Also back were D Victor Hedman, RW Nikita Kucherov and RW Ryan
Callahan, who missed time in the final week of the regular season.
The Lightning had RW Erik Condra, C Jonathan Marchessault and D Matt
Taormina as healthy scratches. ... Detroit had RW Tomas Jurco, D
Brendan Smith and LW Teemu Pulkkinen as healthy scratches.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
