Lightning 5, Red Wings 2
DETROIT -- Center Tyler Johnson scored two goals and the Tampa Bay Lightning forced Game 7 of the Eastern Conference First Round playoff series with a 5-2 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night at Joe Louis Arena.
Game 7 is Wednesday night in Tampa Bay.
Center Alex Killlorn, defenseman Jason Garrison and center Cedric Paquette also scored for Tampa Bay. Right winger Nikita Kucherov had three assists and goaltender Ben Bishop made 22 saves.
Left winger Tomas Tatar had two goals for Detroit. Goalie Petr Mrazek stopped 23 shots.
Tatar brought the Red Wings to within 3-2, 1:39 into the third period, with his second goal of the game. Off a face-off in the Lightning zone, he got control of a bouncing puck in front of the net, turned around and put it past Bishop for Tatar's third goal of the playoffs.
But Killorn scored with 5:09 left to restore the two-goal lead. It was his second goal of the playoffs.
Paquette added an empty-net, shorthanded goal in the final minute.
Johnson opened the scoring 3:47 into the game. He cut in off the right wing, around Detroit defenseman Dan DeKeyser, and beat Mrazek high on the short side from the bottom of the right circle.
It was Johnson's fifth goal of the series.
Garrison made it 2-0 with 9:50 left in the first period.
He moved in on a rush to make it a 4-on-3, took a cross-ice pass from center Steven Stamkos and beat Mrazek with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left circle. It was Garrison's first goal of the playoffs.
Johnson's second goal of the game made it 3-0, 9:51 into the second period. He put in a wrist shot from the high slot off the rush.
Tatar put Detroit on the board with a power-play goal with 7:34 left in the period. He beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall laid a heavy check on Kucherov with about a minute left in the middle period just inside the Tampa Bay zone. Kronwall's shoulder and elbow made contact with Kucherov's head but there was no penalty.
NOTES: Detroit C Pavel Datsyuk was matched against Tampa Bay C Steven Stamkos and the Red Wings' fourth line of C Luke Glendening, LW Drew Miller and RW Landon Ferraro faced the Lightning's second line of C Tyler Johnson, LW Ondrej Palat and RW Nikita Kucherov. ... Detroit G Petr Mrazek came into the game with two shutouts in the series and had allowed three goals in the past three games. ... The Red Wings' last playoff series win was in the 2013 first round when they beat the Anaheim Ducks in seven games.... Former Red Wings and Hall of Fame defenseman Marcel Pronovost died after a short illness at the age of 84. Pronovost spent 15 of his 20-season NHL career with Detroit.