Red Wings 6, Lightning 2
Reigning Selke Trophy winner Pavel Datsyuk tallied twice and Daniel Cleary scored a goal and set up two others as the Detroit Red Wings recorded a 6-2 road triumph over Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday.
Currently the general manager of the Lightning, Yzerman was a legendary member of the Red Wings - both as a three-time Stanley Cup-winning player as well as a title-winning executive. Thursday's contest was the first in which Yzerman "faced" the Red Wings.
Niklas Kronwall and Justin Abdelkader scored in an 86-second span late in the second period and captain Nicklas Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg notched a pair of assists apiece as Central Division-leading Detroit (35-16-6) posted its 10th win in 14 outings away from Joe Louis Arena.
Darren Helm also tallied and Jimmy Howard made the offensive explosion stand up by turning aside 38 shots for his sixth win in eight outings. With a 29-10-3 mark, the 26-year-old New York native leads the NHL in victories this season.
With the game tied at 2-2, Kronwall netted Detroit's second power-play tally of the game with 3:26 remaining in the second period. Abdelkader doubled the advantage with exactly two minutes remaining in the session and Datsyuk added his second of the night midway through the third for his seventh point in nine contests.
Defenseman Victor Hedman and Steve Downie scored nearly three minutes apart in the second period for Southeast Division-leading Tampa Bay (34-18-6), which has dropped two in a row after winning eight of its previous 10.
Dwayne Roloson finished with 25 saves to fall for the fourth time in five starts.