In Tampa, the Detroit Red Wings continued their season of futility with a 3-1 loss to the Lightning on Friday night.
Yes it was close on the scoreboard, but the Bolts toyed with Detroit like cat with an errant house mouse.
“Obviously we knew they were going to come out hard and play their best,” the Lightning’s Mikhail Sergachev said. “They are on a long road trip and want to get some points, obviously. We didn’t come out with the right approach. We didn’t play well and gave them a lot of scoring chances. The second period showed that.
“I felt good about the third period. The boys dialed in and shut them down. [Vasilevskiy] made a huge save there. I hope we can keep playing like that.”
In the end, Detroit’s losing streak hit eight games.
“That’s more conducive to the type of hockey we have to play to be successful,” Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill said. “They leaned on us a bit in the third, but up until that point, we hadn’t given them much. We’re going to be in those 2-1 games and we have to find ways to win them.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy had a relatively busy night and made 27 saves for the win.
Vladislav Namestnikov was the lone striker for Detroit.
Barclay Goodrow scored twice for the Lightning.
Tampa improved to 7-1-1.
“When it’s time to close out a game, even when you’re not at your best, you’ve got to find a way to win some of those,” Lightning head coach Jon Cooper said. “We did against a very determined Detroit team.”
Pat Maroon had a single marker for Tampa.
“It’s nice to get that one, especially early in the game,” Maroon said. “[The scoring chances] have been coming, I just haven’t buried them. [Alex Killorn] made a nice screen on that one.”
Thomas Greiss made 29 saves in the loss; he is 0-7-2 in nine games.
“I just lost that one,” Griess said. “I couldn’t really see it.”
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