Tough Loss Against Future Foe

Despite deserving two points the prior night in Sunrise the Wings came into Tampa Bay desperate for a win to preserve any chance of home ice in the first round of the playoffs. The Red Wings reversed recent trends and started out with a very strong first period. Despite the strong opening frame, the game remained scoreless until the two teams traded goals in the second. Tampa would take advantage of the Red Wing’s tired legs and dominate much of the third, eventually leading to the game winning goal before adding an empty netter.

The first was very even as both teams tightened up defensively in the neutral zone. While Tampa Bay controlled slightly more of the play at even strength the Red Wing's special teams returned to form. On the Power Play just 5 minutes in, the 1^st unit generated a number of chances. However the 2^nd unit, designed around the play making ability of the magic man Pavel Datsyuk, really missed his presence. Tampa got an opportunity on the man advantage late in the period but the Red Wings were much more aggressive at preventing entries and maintained the scoreless draw heading into intermission. 

Despite a solid effort in the first the 2^nd started out very poorly for the Red Wings as Tampa struck just a minute into the period. A big shot by Hedman was kicked into the slot where Stralman beat Abdelkader to put in the rebound for the 1-0 lead. Tampa Bay really started to dominate play after the goal but Jimmy Howard made some incredible saves to keep the deficit at one. On the man advantage, the Red Wings would finally provide some run support, as Tatar jammed the puck in after a massive scramble in the crease. Detroit got some momentum from the goal but two penalties required Howard to come up big to preserve the deadlock.

After being dominated for much of the third period the Lightning finally broke through at the halfway point thanks to a bad turnover from Gustav Nyquist that created an odd man rush. While Detroit would defend the initial rush, they did a poor job of picking up the trailers, allowing Killorn to find some space in the slot and beat Howard to give Tampa a 2-1 lead. The Red Wings pulled Howard with 2 minutes remaining but it was Stamkos who out raced a tired Kronwall to finish the game, 3-1 Tampa Bay.

The result of this game was almost secondary as it becomes increasingly likely that these teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs. Scouting Tampa Bay it is eerie how evenly matched Tampa Bay and Detroit are, particularly when comparing the forward lines. Zetterberg should match up with the Stamkos line while Datsyuk will be expected to contain what I believe is the best line in hockey (Johnson, Palat and Kucherov). Thus the outcome of the series may be decided by the 3^rd line where Sheahan and Nyquist will go up against ex-Red Wing Val Filppula.

Defensively the Red Wing defenders must find a way to exit the zone quickly in order to negate Tampa’s aggressive forecheck. Also as we saw with the first goal tonight, Red Wing forwards need to be aware of Tampa’s defenders jumping up in the play. While Tampa holds an edge at even strength thanks to their advantage on the blue line, the Red Wings are superior with special teams. With their excellent power play, combined with Tampa’s struggled on the man advantage, this could be a huge difference maker.

The loss tonight is tough to swallow after deserving two point last night. However this was another good effort for a team lacking their star player. Although the team ran out of gas in the third, for the first 40 minutes they played one of the best teams in the league to a draw. While I still would rather play Montreal in the first round I have faith this team could still take down Tampa in a 7 game series.