Lightning 6, Red Wings 2
TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning opened a six-game homestand Tuesday night with a resounding 6-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Amalie Arena, moving into a tie with the Florida Panthers for first place in the Eastern Conference with nine games to play.
The Lightning (42-26-5) posted their highest goal total in more than a month, collecting a goal in the first two minutes of each period.
Detroit (36-26-11) is fighting for its postseason life, as the Philadelphia Flyers tied them for the Eastern Conference's second wild-card position by earning a point in an overtime loss Tuesday.
Tampa Bay's Erik Condra, who had just one goal in the previous 65 games, scored twice, getting the first and final goals for the Lightning to give him five on the season.
Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop picked up his 31st win of the year but needed only 23 saves to do so.
The Lightning hadn't scored more than four goals in a span of 16 games, going back to a 6-5 shootout win over Winnipeg on Feb. 18.
Steven Stamkos, Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov collected a goal and an assist apiece for Tampa Bay. Johnson, Brian Boyle and Victor Hedman each finished with two assists for the Lightning.
Ahead by two goals entering the third period, the Lightning added to their lead 63 seconds into the period as Palat scored his 14th goal. Palat converted a rebound off a miss from Tyler Johnson.
The Lightning led 4-2 after two periods, converting a 5-on-3 power play late in the second period after the Red Wings were called for two minor penalties in a span of 12 seconds. Mike Green's tripping penalty was quickly followed by a cross-checking call on Justin Abdelkader, and the Lightning made the most of the two-man advantage, scoring with 2:18 left in the period. Tyler Johnson fired a crossing pass across the goal that Kucherov fired past Petr Mrazek, who had come in for Detroit after starter Jimmy Howard gave up three goals of 16 shots in the first 21 minutes.
Tampa Bay had jumped out early to a 3-0 lead.
The Lightning got a goal from Condra on an assist from Palat just 1:47 into the game. Center Vladislav Namestnikov made it 2-0 when he poked a rebound through Howard's legs with 10:05 left in the first. The Lightning made it 3-0 just 33 seconds into the second period when Stamkos got his 34th goal of the season, firing a shot off that caromed off the skate of Red Wings defenseman Jonathan Ericsson and past Howard.
Detroit pulled within one goal in the second, first getting a power-play goal from Abdelkader after a roughing penalty on Tampa Bay's Alex Killorn. Abdelkader's 18th goal came on a rebound from the side of the goal, and with 4:35 left in the period, Detroit made it 3-2 on center Darren Helm's 12th goal of the season, as he broke loose and beat Tampa Bay's defense before firing a shot past Bishop.
Mrazek stopped 15 of the 18 shots he faced.
NOTES: The Lightning were again without two of their most experienced forwards, with RW Ryan Callahan missing his second consecutive game due to a lower-body injury and C Valtteri Filppula sitting out his fourth straight with an upper-body injury. Recent call-up RW Mike Blunden was a healthy scratch. ... Detroit had three healthy scratches: RW Tomas Jurco, D Alexey Marchenko and LW Teemu Pulkkinen. ... The Lightning held a moment of silence before the game in memory of those killed in Tuesday's attack in Belgium. ... Tuesday's game opened a six-game homestand for the Lightning, their last home games of the season before finishing up on a four-game road swing. The New York Islanders visit Tampa Bay on Friday. ... Detroit returns home for three in a row, starting with Thursday's game against the Montreal Canadiens.