Bolts Beat Wings 5-2 Force Game 7 At Amalie Arena

With their backs against the wall, the Tampa Bay Lightning got two goals from Tyler Johnson, three assists from Nikita Kucherov and a 22 save performance from goalie Ben Bishop as they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 5-2 to force a game 7 in Amalie Arena on Wednesday night.

Jason Garrison, Alex Killorn and Cedric Paquette also had goals for Tampa Bay.

The Bolts drew first blood as defenseman Victor Hedman hit Nikita Kucherov at the opposite blue line with a perfect stretch pass. Kucherov neatly flipped the puck to Johnson, who flew to the net and and easily beat Detroit goalie Petr Mrazek.

Steven Stamkos set up the second goal by slowing up at the top of the right circle and then hitting Jason Garrison in the slot.

Johnson scored his second of the game by finding open ice again and beating Mrazek badly. The goal tied Johnson with St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko for the league lead in playoff goals with six.

Detroit had a two-man advantage for 18 seconds later in the second period. Although they didn’t score during the 5-on-3, the Red Wings’ Tomas Tatar beat Bolts goalie Ben Bishop high to make it 3-1.

Tatar’s second tally came when he found the puck in front of Bishop and slid it under him, making it 3-2 with 18:21 left. But Alex Killorn broke in alone and beat Mrazek high with a nifty backhand with 5:09 to play.

Cedric Paquette added a shorthanded empty netter to make the final 5-2.

Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall laid a big hit on Kucherov with about a minute left in the second period just inside the Tampa Bay blue line. Kronwall’s shoulder and elbow made contact with Kucherov’s head and his feet both left the ice, but there was no penalty called. A suspension is warranted but it is the playoffs and a game 7…we’ll see.

Game 7’s:  The Red Wings’ most recent series win was in the first round in 2013 when they beat the Anaheim Ducks in seven games. They lost to Chicago in seven in the following round, and this will be their first Game 7 since.

Tampa Bay last played a Game 7 in 2011, when they beat Pittsburgh in the first round but lost in seven to Boston in the conference finals.

The winner Wednesday will face the Montreal Canadiens in the second round.

Bolt Quotes

“All the guys kept saying two of the greatest words put beside each other in any sport: Game 7. And that’s what we wanted, Game 7.” – Coach Jon Cooper

“It’s a hit, I’m not going to cry now. It’s part of the game.” – Nikita Kucherov on Kronwall hit

“I felt like our team gave 100% effort tonight. It was a good showing by our team, desperation hockey, backs against the wall.” – Tyler Johnson

“We just had to keep playing the way we’ve been playing all year. We didn’t want to change anything.”- Ben Bishop

Jonathan Drouin (healthy), J.T. Brown (healthy) and Mark Barberio (healthy) were the scratches.

Game 7 will be 7:30 pm Wednesday night in Tampa at Amalie Arena. The game will be aired on Sun Sports and NBCSN.

(Feature Photo/Getty Images)

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