Red Wings at Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning recorded franchise bests in both wins and points this season, but the agonizing memory of last season's first-round sweep is a strong enough reason not to rest on their laurels. With a club-best 32-8-1 mark at home, the Lightning look to get off on the right foot when they open their Eastern Conference first-round series against the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Thursday.
Steven Stamkos scored four of his team-leading 43 goals this season against the Red Wings, helping Tampa Bay post a 3-1-0 mark versus its Atlantic Division rival. The vaunted second line of Tyler Johnson (29 goals, 43 assists), Nikita Kucherov (28 goals, 36 assists) and Ondrej Palat (16 goals, team-high 47 assists) amassed 73 goals for the Lightning, who look for a longer stay after being brushed aside by Montreal last year. Detroit is making its 24th consecutive playoff appearance, but enters this postseason on the heels of losing 13 of its final 20 contests (7-10-3). The Red Wings need veteran Pavel Datsyuk (26 goals, 39 assists) to remain both productive and healthy if they wish to subdue the Lightning.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, CNBC, RSN, TVA, Fox Sports Detroit
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (43-25-14): Gustav Nyquist (27 goals, 27 assists) scored and set up two goals in the season series and Darren Helm netted a pair of tallies versus the Lightning. Helm is expected to be paired with Datsyuk and captain Henrik Zetterberg (team-leading 59 assists and 66 points) on the top line should forward Justin Abdelkader remained sidelined with a hand injury. Petr Mrazek (16-9-2, 2.38 goals-against average, .918 save percentage) breezed past slumping Jimmy Howard to put himself in position to make his first postseason start versus Lightning, against whom he turned aside all 23 shots he faced in a 4-0 victory on March 28.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (50-24-8): After missing last year's postseason sweep versus the Canadiens due to injury, Ben Bishop (40-13-5, 2.32 GAA, .916 save percentage) will receive his first taste of the NHL playoffs on Thursday. The 6-7 netminder set a franchise record with a career high in wins while giving the fans at Amalie Arena plenty of reasons to smile with a 27-6-1 mark at home. Bishop could also receive a boost with the expected return of defenseman Braydon Coburn, who has been sidelined since March 10 with a lower-body injury.
OVERTIME
1. Detroit LW Tomas Tatar, who led the team with 29 goals, scored just once against Tampa Bay this season.
2. Lightning GM Steve Yzerman played 22 seasons for the Red Wings (1983-2006) and served in the team's front office before shuffling to Tampa Bay.
3. The Red Wings boast the league's second-best power play (23.8 percent) while the Lightning's penalty kill finished in a three-way tie for seventh (83.7).
SERIES