Thursday, March 28, 2024

NHL Preview: Tampa Bay Lightning (36-17-4) at Detroit Red Wings (28-21-8)

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING NOTES:

LAST GAME
Lightning 5 vs. Buffalo 6 (OT)
The Tampa Bay Lightning extended their franchise record home point streak to 16 games, but fell to the Buffalo Sabres in a 6-5 overtime loss Thursday night at AMALIE Arena…The Bolts are 2-0-1 vs. BUF this season with a final matchup set to be played March 4 at KeyBank Center…Steven Stamkos opened the scoring 2:19 into the first period when he took a pass from Brayden Point and sped into the BUF zone on a 2-on-1 before firing a wrist shot over the glove of Eric Comrie for his 26th goal of the season with Nikita Kucherov picking up the secondary helper…Zemgus Girgensons tied the game at one with 8:19 remaining in the first period…Tage Thompson scored back-to-back goals at the 9:36 and 12:20 marks of the second period to give BUF a 3-1 lead…Victor Hedman responded 16 seconds after Thompson’s second goal and ripped a slap shot past Comrie to make it a 3-2 game with Pat Maroon and Nick Paul recording the assists…Jack Quinn answered for BUF just 49 seconds later and put Tampa Bay back in a two-goal hole heading into the third period…Point got the Lightning back within one 5:48 into the third period when he took a pass from Hedman and flew into the BUF zone before beating Comrie on the backhand with Brandon Hagel picking up the secondary assist…Thompson completed his hat trick 30 seconds later to put BUF back up by two…Anthony Cirelli made it a 5-4 game when he forced the puck past Comrie after a backhand shot on goal from Erik Cernak with Point recording the secondary helper…Ross Colton took a pass from Stamkos on the power play and wired a one-timer past Comrie to tie the game with 5:06 remaining in regulation as Point recorded another secondary helper…Ilya Lyubushkin scored a shorthanded, game-winning goal in overtime to earn a 6-5 win for BUF…Andrei Vasilevskiy got the start in goal for Tampa Bay and made 17 saves.
PP: TBL – 1-3 BUF – 1-2
SOG: TBL – 41 BUF – 23
Attendance: 19,092

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP
The Lightning and the Red Wings are playing the third of four matchups this season and the second of two meetings at Little Caesars Arena…The Bolts are 0-2-0 against DET this season with a 4-2 loss Dec. 6 at AMALIE Arena and a 7-4 loss Dec. 21 at Little Caesars Arena…Nikita Kucherov leads the Lightning with three points in two games vs. DET this season (1-2—3)…Brayden Point leads Tampa Bay with two goals vs. DET this season (2-0—2)…Steven Stamkos has picked up points in seven straight games vs. DET (5-7—12)…Stamkos has pointed in four straight games at DET (4-4—8) and 10 of his last 11 contests at DET (7-9—16)…Kucherov has recorded points in three straight games vs. DET (2-2—4) and eight of the last 10 meetings (7-10—17)…Kucherov has pointed in nine of his last 11 games at DET (11-9—20) with goals in eight of those contests…Point has recorded points in five of his last six games vs. DET (4-2— 6)…Point has found the scoresheet in seven of his last nine contests at DET (7-5—12) with goals in six of those games…Ross Colton has scored three goals over his last three contests vs. DET (3-1—4)…Victor Hedman has recorded an assist in three straight games vs. DET (0-3—3) and five of the last six meetings (0-10—10)…In 15 career games vs. DET, Andrei Vasilevskiy is 13-2-0 with a .921 save percentage and 2.22 goals against average…Over the last 10 meetings with DET, the Bolts penalty kill is 26-of-28 (92.9%)…The Lightning have recorded 35 or more shots on goal in seven straight games vs. DET…Tampa Bay has scored four or more goals in eight of their last 11 games at DET…The Lightning have won 50% or more of the faceoffs in nine straight games vs. DET and 11 of the last 12 meetings…Tampa Bay is 6-2-2 in their last 10 games at DET and 5-4-1 in the last 10 meetings overall…The Bolts are 36-33-3 with two ties all-time vs. DET, including a road record of 14-19-2 with one tie…Kucherov (19-20—39) holds the Tampa Bay franchise record for career points vs. DET.

TBL ALL-TIME POINT LEADERS VS. DET

  1. Nikita Kucherov – 39 pts. (19-20—39, 31 GP)
  2. Steven Stamkos – 38 pts. (20-18—38, 37 GP)
  3. Victor Hedman – 36 pts. (3-33—36, 40 GP)
  4. Ondrej Palat – 28 pts. (8-20—28, 38 GP)
  5. Brayden Point – 26 pts. (15-11—26, 29 GP)

TONIGHT’S STORYLINES
Tampa Bay is playing the first game of a brief, two-game road trip tonight…The Bolts will play seven of their 12 games in February on the road…The Lightning are 9-6-1 against Atlantic Division opponents and 16-10-2 against the Eastern Conference this season…The Bolts are 7-3-0 in the first game of a back-to-back set this season…Tampa Bay is 14-13-1 on the road this season and posted a 2-1-1 record on their last road trip…The Lightning penalty kill posted a perfect 12-for-12 mark on their last road trip…The Bolts have scored three or more goals in eight of their last 10 road games…Tampa Bay will not have more than one day between games until their March 28 matchup with Carolina.

INJURIES
2022-23 Regular Season Man Games Lost: 95
Current Injuries:
None

TRANSACTIONS
Jan. 30 – Recalled D Nick Perbix from AHL Syracuse
Jan. 30 – Re-assigned F Rudolfs Balcers to AHL Syracuse
Jan. 29 – Assigned D Nick Perbix to AHL Syracuse
Jan. 29 – Recalled F Rudolfs Balcers from AHL Syracuse

DETROIT RED WINGS NOTES:

LAST GAME
RED WINGS 4 vs. RANGERS 1 (2/23/23)
1ST PERIOD: DET Copp (Rasmussen, Perron) 15:33-EV
2ND PERIOD: NYR Trocheck (unassisted) 6:06-EV; DET Zadina (Larkin) 8:18-EV; DET Rasmussen (Perron, Copp) 18:02-EV
3RD PERIOD: DET Hronek (Copp, Kubalík) 4:51-PP
SHOTS: DET 23 (7-8-8) / NYR 31 (10-13-8)
GOALIES: DET Husso (W, 30-31) / NYR Halák (L, 19-23)
PP: DET 1-4 / NYR 0-2

MAN GAMES LOST (games missed / out since)
Lucas Raymond – lower body (7 / Feb. 10)
Total Man Games Lost: 233
Individual Man Games Lost: Filip Zadina (37), Robby Fabbri (35), Jakub Vrána (33), Matt Luff (32), Tyler Bertuzzi (31), Robert Hägg (15), Elmer Söderblom (13), Gustav Lindström (11), Oskar Sundqvist (7), Olli Määttä (4), Jake Walman (3), Ville Husso (2), Michael Rasmussen (2), Dylan Larkin (1)

RECENT TRANSACTIONS
2/23 – Reassigned defenseman Seth Barton to Grand Rapids from Toledo (ECHL)
2/16 – Signed defenseman Olli Määttä to a two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $3 million

TONIGHT’S GAME
RED WINGS vs. LIGHTNING / 8:00 P.M. EST / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
TONIGHT: 75th all-time meeting, 37th in Detroit … Third of four games this season, second of two at Little Caesars Arena
ALL-TIME vs. TB: 36-28-2-8 / HOME: 21-7-1-7 / LAST 10: 5-3-2 / IN 2021-22: 1-1-2 / THIS SEASON: 2-0-0
DET top scorers vs. TB: Dylan Larkin (8-8-16 in 28 GP), David Perron (7-7-14 in 16 GP), Tyler Bertuzzi (5-6-11 in 11 GP), Robby Fabbri (5-5-10 in 13 GP), Dominik Kubalík (5-5-10 in 13 GP), Michael Rasmussen (5-5-10 in 16 GP), Filip Zadina (1-8-9 in 14 GP), Filip Hronek (0-9-9 in 18 GP), Oskar Sundqvist (5-2-7 in 14 GP), Robert Hägg (3-2-5 in 10 GP), Moritz Seider (0-4-4 in 6 GP), Jonatan Berggren (1-0-1 in 2 GP)
TB top scorers vs. DET: Nikita Kucherov (19-20-39 in 31 GP), Steven Stamkos (20-18-38 in 37 GP), Victor Hedman (3-33-36 in 40 GP), Brayden Point (15-11-26 in 29 GP), Corey Perry (11-12-23 in 45 GP), Ross Colton (5-2-7 in 11 GP), Nick Perbix (0-1-1 in 2 GP)

UPCOMING GAMES (ALL TIMES EST)
Monday, Feb. 27: RED WINGS at SENATORS / 7:00 p.m. / Canadian Tire Centre / TV: BSD EXTRA / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Tuesday, Feb. 28: RED WINGS at SENATORS / 7:00 p.m. / Canadian Tire Centre / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM
Thursday, March 2: RED WINGS vs. KRAKEN / 7:00 p.m. / LITTLE CAESARS ARENA / TV: BSD / RADIO: WXYT 97.1 FM

LAST TIME OUT
Feb. 23 vs. New York Rangers – 4-1 W
Detroit captured a 4-1 victory over the New York Rangers to improve to 28-21-8 overall and 15-11-3 inside Little Caesars Arena … The result lifted Detroit (64 points) above Florida (64 points) and Pittsburgh (63 points) for the second Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference through games played on Feb. 23 … The last time the Red Wings occupied a playoff spot at this stage of a season (minimum 50 GP) was in 2015-16 when they held a playoff spot for the final nine days of the campaign … Detroit is 7-1-0 since Feb. 9 vs. Calgary, outscoring its opponents by a 32-16 margin … The Red Wings have won three-straight home games for the first time since Oct. 29-Nov. 5 … Detroit has scored four-or-more goals in five of its last seven contests … Andrew Copp finished with a goal and two assists for his first three-point game in a Detroit uniform … Copp has recorded five points (1-4-5) and a plus-four rating in six games since Feb. 13 at Vancouver … Michael Rasmussen logged a goal and an assist for his seventh multi-point game of the campaign … Rasmussen has 12 points (3-9-12) and a plus-nine rating in 16 games dating back to Jan. 16 at Colorado … Rasmussen became the seventh Detroit skater to score 10-or-more goals this season … Rasmussen also picked up his 50th career NHL assist with the primary helper on Copp’s goal … David Perron added a pair of assists for his eighth multi-point game of the season … Perron, who tallied his 700th career NHL point on Feb. 16 at Calgary, has seven assists in his last eight games since Feb. 9 vs. Calgary … Filip Zadina gave Detroit a 2-1 lead with his second goal of the season … Both of Zadina’s goals this season have been game-winners … Zadina has a point in each of his last three appearances (1-2-3 in 3 GP) … Filip Hronek wrapped up the scoring on the power play … Hronek continues to lead all Red Wings defensemen in goals (9), assists (28), points (37), power play goals (4), power play points (15) and shots (120) through 57 games … Dylan Larkin picked up the lone assist on Zadina’s goal, giving him 14 points (7-7-14) in nine games since returning from the 2023 Honda NHL All-Star Game … Larkin continues to average better than a point-per-game this season, pacing the Red Wings with 57 points (22-35-57) in 56 games … Larkin recorded his 415th career NHL point (169-246-415 in 560 GP), tying Vyacheslav Kozlov for 20th place on the franchise’s all-time scoring list … Ville Husso stopped 30-of-31 shots to earn his 23rd win of the season … Husso is 6-1-0 with a 2.00 goals-against average and a 0.939 save percentage in seven starts dating back to Feb. 9 vs. Calgary … Husso has allowed one goal or fewer in 13 starts this season, including four of his last seven contests … The Red Wings are 19-0-2 this season when leading after two periods, and a perfect 9-0-0 when doing so on home ice.

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