In Detroit, Daniel Sprong’s goal with none minutes gone in the middle frame gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning.
“The goal at the beginning of the season was to be in the playoffs and try to go as far as we can,” Sprong said. “It’s a long season, but right now we’re playing some really good hockey. We have to keep rolling like this.”
Alex Lyon made 28 saves and protected the thin lead for the win.
“That’s a very, very dangerous team and I thought we played really well tonight,” Lyon said. “This might have been one of the more complete games we played all season.”
Detroit improved to 24-17-5.
Victor Hedman staked the Lightning to a 1-0 lead at 8:45 of the opening stanza.
“Some nights, you are struggling to get momentum and fighting to make plays,” Hedman said. “We couldn’t get anything going until the third, and we had some unbelievable looks and couldn’t put anything in.”
Tampa Bay dropped to 24-18-5.
“You can’t just play one period in this league and expect to win,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “We had a chance to win, but only because our goalie gave us a chance.”
Detroit responded to the Hedman goal with a strike by Lucas Raymond with 1:31 left in the first period for a 1-1 tie headed to the second period. 
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 33 saves in the loss.
“Any time you can match performances with Vasilevskiy, it is huge,” Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. “That’s what we needed tonight, especially in the third period.”
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