The two-game sweep of the NHL from Friday starts in Tampa where the Lightning used goals from Alex Killorn, Anton Stralman and Steven Stamkos to get past the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1.
Jimmy Howard took the loss on 29 saves and Ben Bishop made 30 saves for the Bolts in the win.
The Wings now trail Tampa by eight points.
“That’s the way it’s looking right now, but we’ll deal with [the playoffs] when the time comes,” Bishop said. “Obviously, these are big games. It’s kind of a playoff atmosphere out there and it’s always fun when you have a lot of red in the crowd to send them home unhappy.”
At this point in the race, the Wings and Bolts would face each other in the first round.
“It would be a [heck] of a matchup, that’s for sure,” Howard said. “It would be extremely tight and come down to the team that gets the bounces.”
Detroit is not playing their best hockey and have lost four of five.
“I thought we came out strong and really generated some good scoring chances,” Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg said. “Obviously, this would be the matchup in the playoffs, and we’ll have to work harder in these games if that happens. But I thought we battled tonight and had a lot of good moments.”
In Buffalo, the Sabres faced another back-up goalie in the Devils’ Keith Kinkaid who made 28 saves in a 3-1 win for the Devils.
Steve Bernier scored twice and Jordin Tootoo added a goal in the win.
“It’s been 14 games but I thought we’ve been playing well,” Bernier said. “I never worry about that stuff, but it’s always nice to get one out of the way, for sure. But I think it was a great effort by everybody tonight.”
The Sabres played a tight game but are still unable or unwilling to get over the hump.
“He’s (Bernier) been playing so well, I don’t think we worry about scoring,” Devils interim co-coach Lou Lamoriello said. “He’s been playing consistently well all year. When you do the job he did, especially when you saw him in the second period, when he took the hit on the boards just to make the outlet pass, I mean, that’s what he’s been doing. To get him rewarded with goals is great.”
Matt Moulson scored the lone goal for the Sabres.
“It’s tough to get things going,” Moulson said. “They really play a smart game and try to smother you in their own end and not give you much inside. I think that second period we got a bunch of chances. We didn’t play well in the first at all, but we got a bunch of chances in the second and don’t capitalize, and they come down and capitalize on theirs. In the NHL you’ve got to find ways to beat teams no matter how they play.”
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