Lightning 5, Red Wings 1
Cedric Paquette recorded his first career hat trick as Tampa Bay rolled over Detroit for its single-season franchise-record ninth consecutive home victory and took over first place in the Atlantic Division.
Captain Steven Stamkos scored his 27th goal of the season and defenseman Mark Barberio netted his first while Alex Killorn and rookie Jonathan Drouin added two assists apiece for the Lightning. Ben Bishop turned aside 27 shots for his ninth victory in his last 11 decisions and improved to 6-1-0 lifetime against the Red Wings.
Darren Helm registered his ninth goal for Detroit, which saw its six-game winning streak come to an end. Petr Mrazek allowed five goals on 15 shots before Tom McCollum made 17 saves in relief for the Red Wings, who fell one point behind Tampa Bay in the division.
Paquette chipped in his own rebound in front 2:03 into the contest, but Helm wheeled out from behind the net unmarked to beat Bishop from below the right faceoff circle at 11:59 to tie it. Drouin and Killorn’s work on the boards set up Paquette’s shot from the right circle that sailed over Mrazek’s left shoulder with 36.2 seconds left in the first period for a 2-1 lead.
Stamkos hammered a low shot past Mrazek while on the power play 4:18 into the second session and Paquette capped his hat trick during a short-handed rush at 11:03. Barberio increased the lead to 5-1 with a slap shot from the high slot with 2:21 remaining in the middle period.
GAME NOTEBOOK: It was the fourth hat trick for Tampa Bay this season as Stamkos, fellow All-Star Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov also accomplished the feat. … Paquette’s third goal was the first short-handed tally for the Lightning against the Red Wings since Patrick Poulin’s in 1996. … Detroit C Pavel Datsyuk notched an assist for his 15th point in 12 career games against Tampa Bay.