Simply put…the Tampa Bay Lightning put a beat down on the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night. In a playoff atmosphere in Amalie Arena, the Bolts dominated the Wings, beating them 5-1.
Coming into the contest, the Red Wings led the Lightning by one point for Atlantic Division supremacy. The high scoring Lightning had been doing it with defense, while Detroit had scored 20 goals in their last five games, all wins.
While Detroit had been dominant against Tampa Bay, winning 26 of 38 meetings, the Lightning had won five of the last six meetings and two straight at Amalie Arena.
The Bolts were looking for their franchise best ninth consecutive home win and they came out on fire as Cedric Paquette scored his seventh goal at 2:03 from Alex Killorn and Jason Garrison. Paquette swiped at a rebound of a Garrison shot twice before depositing it past Petr Mrazek.
The Red Wings tied the game at 11:59 when Darren Helm circled the net and beat Ben Bishop with a wrist shot. The young Lightning defense left Helm all alone. Jonathan Ericsson and Pavel Datsyuk had the assists.
Soon after the Helm goal, Jonathan Drouin turned the puck over and sent the Red Wings on a 2-on-0 breakaway where Ben Bishop made a highlight reel glove save on Riley Sheahan.
Cedric Paquette scored his second of the game and third in two games when he beat Mrazek short side high with a goal scorers goal at 19:23 from Drouin and Killorn.
Shots in the playoff-like first period were tied at eight.
Steven Stamkos opened the second period scoring his 27th on the power play from Drouin and Anton Stralman. This was a vintage Stamkos goal: A one-timer from the left circle, his first in three games.
The Bolts scored a shorthanded goal at 11:03 by…you guessed it…Cedric Paquette. For Paquette it was his ninth of the year and first career hat trick.
Soon after the goal Justin Abdelkader, who had already earned a goalie interference call earlier, began jousting with goalie Ben Bishop, when Jason Garrison jumped in. Both players dropped their gloves and Garrison simply destroyed Abdelkader.
Mark Barberio continued the onslaught as he rifled a slapshot past Mrazek for his first goal of the season from Andrej Sustr and Tyler Johnson at 17:39. Barberio hadn’t scored since March 8 of last season (26 games).
The second period saw the Lightning outscore the Red Wings 3-0. Shots for the period were tied at seven.
Ehtering the contest, the Red Wings were +21 second period goal differential. Tonight, they were -3.
The Red Wings yanked goalie Petr Mrazek in favor of Thomas McCollum to start the third period. McCollum played very well. There was no coring in the period.
Th Bolts set the franchise record for consecutive wins with nine and took over first place in the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference.
Eighteen players in tonight’s game played in the 2013 AHL Calder Cup Finals between Grand Rapids and Syracuse.
Cedric Paquette had a 29-game goal drought heading into the All-Star break. He has five goals in six periods since. He is the fifth player in Lightning history to score a hat trick before his 22nd birthday. (Wiemer/Gratton/Stamkos/ Kucherov)
Cedric Paquette shows off his hat trick puck after #TBLightning 5-1 victory over Detroit. pic.twitter.com/vd7ggGUZHA
— Bryan Burns (@BBurnsNHL) January 30, 2015
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Jonathan Drouin is coming of age as he was one of the best players on the ice.
Bolts goalie Ben Bishop played well stopping 27 of 28 shots and making some key saves. He has won six of his last seven decisions.
Tampa Bay beat the Red Wings in every way. Physically and mentally. It was a total 60 minute team effort.
Luke Witkowski (healthy), Brenden Morrow (healthy), Radko Gudas (knee surgery) and Matt Carle (abdominal surgery) were the scratches.
The Lightning host the Columbus Blue Jackets Saturday night.
(Feature Photograph/Getty Images)
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