The Detroit Red Wings scored three times in a 3:54 span early in the second period to easily dispatch the Tampa Bay Lightning this afternoon at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. Red Wing goalie Petr Mrazek was a perfect 23 for 23 as he shutout the Bolts 4-0.
The scoreless first period was a back and forth, heavy hitting affair that included defenseman Jason Garrison suffering an upper body injury when Detroit’s Justin Abdelkader boarded him early in the going. Garrison would not return to the game. With Garrison out, forward Brian Boyle took some shifts on defense, paired with Anton Stralman.
With Andrej Sustr in the box for high-sticking, Detroit’s top ranked home power play peppered Bolts’ backstop Ben Bishop with shots but he was up to the task.
Shots for the period were 8-7 in favor of Detroit. Both teams were 0-2 with the man-advantage.
The Lightning started the second period on a power play that turned into a brief 5-on-3 man advantage, but couldn’t get one past Red Wing goalie Petr Mrazek despite earning some great chances.
Then the period turned into a nightmare as the Red Wings dominated and scored three goals in a 3:54 span. Detroit simply outworked, outhit and outplayed the Bolts.
At 5:25 the Red Wings’ Joakim Andersson scored his second goal of the year from Kyle Quincey and Danny DeKeyser. Andersson knocked a rebound out of the air and through Ben Bishop‘s legs to make it 1-0.
Less than two minutes later, Abdelkader stole the puck and scored his 23rd of the season on a breakaway to make it 2-0. Gustav Nyquist earned the assist.
Detroit’s Gustav Nyquist netted his 24th of the year from Niklas Kronwall at 9:19. Nyquist flipped the puck over Bishop’s shoulder to make it 3-0.
Shots in the period were 9-7 in favor of Detroit. At this point in the game, the Red Wings had outhit the Lightning 17-6.
The Bolts did have some good chances in the period but Mrazek shut the door.
Goalie Ben Bishop made some terrific saves but the Lightning defense was abysmal.
The Red Wings sat back in the third period and totally played a defensive shell and shut down the Bolts rather easily.
The Red Wings scored an empty netter with 1:39 left to make the final 4-0.
Cedric Paquette suffered a lower body injury with 2:15 remaining in the game when he dove and stopped an Abdelkader empty net try and his leg crashed into the goal post. The leg injury looked bad.
and a GIF of it in case you weren’t already horrified pic.twitter.com/VrdBsgTITF
— Steph (@myregularface) March 28, 2015
//platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsShots ended up even at 23 for the game. The dismal Lightning power play was impotent again, going 0-6 while the penalty kill was a perfect 4-4. The power play unit is 0-11 in the past two games. The Bolts were shutout for the first time this season. They were last shutout on December 14, 2013 at New Jersey. Make no mistake, the Red Wings played about as well as they can, but the Bolts were easy prey this afternoon. The Lightning finished 3-1-0 against Detroit, their potential first round playoff opponent. According to beat writer Erik Erlendsson, Cedric Paquette “was seen dressing under his own weight” and “Garrison to be evaluated by team doctors, will not accompany team to Montreal.” Erlendsson also tweeted, “There was talk post game that Paquette was heading to hospital with Detroit team doctor for evaluation, but no confirmation from the Lightning.”
According to @renlavoietva Paquette received better than expected news and has not yet been ruled out to play Monday — Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) March 28, 2015
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Look for the Bolts to recall Luke Witkowski from Syracuse in Garrison’s absence.
Beat writer Joe Smith tells us Jon Cooper’s take on the Abdelkader hit on Jason Garrison,”Square behind on the numbers in a vulnerable spot. Guys have gotten multiple games for that hit.”
The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers 4-2 today, so the Lightning (99 points) will look to clinch a playoff spot Monday night vs. Montreal.
Before the game, the Lightning officially recalled Vladislav Namestnikov, which means he is staying with Tampa Bay for the rest of the season. It is the Lightning’s third of four allotted recalls.
Braydon Coburn (lower body), J.T. Brown (healthy) and Mark Barberio (healthy) were the scratches.
The Lightning will visit the Montreal Canadiens Monday night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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