Red Wings at Lightning
The Detroit Red Wings attempt to complete their Sunshine State trip in perfect fashion when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The Red Wings, who rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat Atlantic Division-leading Florida 5-3 on Saturday for their second straight victory, look to extend their one-point lead over Philadelphia for the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Detroit scored more than three goals for the first time since Feb. 27 and coach Jeff Blashill told reporters, “I’d say it’s the kind of game that we’re going to continue to need. I liked a lot of things.” The Red Wings lost their last game at Tampa Bay 3-1 on Feb. 3 after winning the first two contests of the season series at home. The Lightning, who trail the Panthers by two points, recovered from a rough 1-4-1 stretch with a 2-0 victory at Arizona on Saturday and begin a six-game homestand before going on the road for the final four contests of the regular season. Ben Bishop is expected back in net for Tampa Bay after posting his fifth shutout of the season and franchise-record 15th on Saturday.
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, Sportsnet, TVA, FSN Detroit, Sun Sports (Tampa Bay)
ABOUT THE RED WINGS (36-25-11): Rookie Dylan Larkin recorded his first two-point performance since Feb. 6 on Saturday and has notched three points in his last two games after recording just two in the previous 16 contests. Larkin has registered 43 points overall – one behind captain Henrik Zetterberg for the team lead – while Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar each have notched three in the last two wins. Petr Mrazek told reporters he is feeling better after missing two games due to illness but is expected to back up Jimmy Howard on Tuesday.
ABOUT THE LIGHTNING (41-26-5): Bishop, who leads the league in goals-against average (2.02), passed Nikolai Khabibulin for the franchise lead in shutouts and has posted a pair for his team’s only victories in its last seven games (2-4-1). “He’s absolutely one of the best goalies in the league, no doubt,” defenseman Anton Stralman told reporters. “Think that’s pretty obvious the last couple years.” Captain Steven Stamkos has scored four goals in as many games to lead the team with 33 and Nikita Kucherov had recorded three points in his last two contests.
OVERTIME
1. Lightning D Victor Hedman leads the team with a plus-17 rating and is plus-38 over the last two seasons, including the playoffs.
2. Detroit LW Justin Abdelkader has notched three assists in his last two games to reach 40 points for the second time in his career.
3. Tampa Bay C Valtteri Filppula (upper body) has missed the last three games and is questionable to face his former team on Tuesday.