Red Wings at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the league in points, but they are a 9-8-1 team since Jan. 4 and hope to begin reasserting themselves when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. The Lightning come home after losing at Toronto and Buffalo on a brief road trip to go after their 11th consecutive victory over the Red Wings, counting playoff games.
“There are ups and downs in the season, and good teams control those downs,” Tampa Bay right wing Ryan Callahan told reporters after Tuesday’s 5-3 loss at Buffalo. “We’re in a little lull now with our play. We have to be better quickly.” The Lightning should have No. 1 goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy (33 wins, .928 save percentage) back in net after being rested Tuesday and he owns two of his team’s three victories this season against Detroit, which has won two in a row and posted a point in three straight (2-0-1) overall as it hangs on to faint playoff hopes. The Red Wings won 5-4 at Washington in overtime Sunday and received 32 saves from Jimmy Howard in a 2-1 triumph against Anaheim at home Tuesday. “We know our situation and what has to be done,” Detroit’s leading scorer Dylan Larkin told reporters Tuesday. “We’re desperate right now.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Detroit, FS Sun (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (23-23-9): Larkin boasts a goal and four assists during a four-game point streak and tops the team with 43 points - four better than captain Henrik Zetterberg, who posted six in the past four contests. Veteran center Frans Nielsen has picked up his production of late with two goals and five assists in his five-game point streak, boosting his season total to 24 points. “I’m having a bit of luck right now,” Nielsen told reporters after scoring his 13th goal Tuesday. “You go out there and work hard every night, and sometimes things bounce your way.”
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (38-16-3): Tampa Bay woke up Wednesday ranked 25th in the league in penalty killing (78 percent) after allowing a pair of power-play goals in the loss against Buffalo and 10 in the last 10 games. “The guys are trying,” coach Jon Cooper told reporters. “Penalty killing is tough. You have to be in lanes, you have to do a good job structurally. You have to block shots. You have to commit. We’ve just got to find a way to do that.” Nikita Kucherov leads the league with 72 points after registering three goals and three assists in the last four games.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit RW Anthony Mantha has three goals in his last three games and leads the team with 19.
2. Tampa Bay F Yanni Gourde boasts a seven-game point streak (five goals, five assists) and scored eight times in the last 11 contests.
3. Red Wings F Darren Helm needs one point to reach 200 in his career after posting seven in six games this month.