Valtteri Filppula might have saved the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Game 1 victory Wednesday night, but that doesn’t mean the Detroit Red Wings were simply unlucky.
Down 1-0, there are already issues that Detroit will have to overcome if they are going to avoid a second-straight first-round loss to the Lightning.
Despite being outplayed for most of the third period, which saw Tampa Bay take a 3-2 lead, the Red Wings were an inch away from sending the game to overtime. With the goalie pulled, Henrik Zetterberg dumped the puck in front of the net, but Ben Bishop stopped Pavel Datsyuk’s shot from the edge of the crease.
The rebound bounced to Bishop’s right, and as he tried to lunge across the crease, Mike Green pinched in from the point. Just as Green was about to bury his second goal of the game, Filppula lunged and deflected the shot over the crossbar.
April 13, 2016: Kyle Quincey (27) of the Detroit Red Wings celebrates with the bench. (Photograph by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire)
If Detroit had scored, though, it would have come against the run of play in the final 20 minutes. Tampa Bay had a 21-14 edge in shot attempts, a 13-9 advantage in scoring chances and only had a second goal called back by a razor-close replay review.
The key to the period was the dominance of Tampa Bay’s forechecking scheme. For large stretches, Detroit couldn’t get out of their own end, and the Lightning press led to the go-ahead goal. Darren Helm lost the puck under pressure from Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson pounced on it along the boards.
He fired the puck at Jimmy Howard, but Alex Killorn drove to the net and tipped it in to give the Lightning the winning goal.
Going into Game 2, the Red Wings will have to find a way to escape Tampa Bay’s pressure and use their own speed to create counter-attack opportunities.
“They got the puck deep on us, and there was one stretch of about seven minutes where we just couldn’t get anything going,” Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg said on FOX Sports Detroit’s post-game show. “It’s not brain science. We have to do exactly what they did on the winner – get it in their end and throw the puck at the net with bodies in front. You win a lot of games with ugly goals in the playoffs.”
Detroit coach Jeff Blashill thought his team had some good moments against Tampa Bay pressure, but acknowledged they have to get better.
“I thought we managed our end well for the most part,” he said. “They are a great defensive team, though, and they certainly got some push. We’re going to look at the film and see what we can fix.”
Tampa Bay’s first two goals were aided by Detroit players making simple mistakes.
In the first period, Dylan Larkin looked like a rookie for five seconds, and it cost his team badly. Detroit had two players forechecking deep in the Tampa Bay zone, with Larkin back at the blue line. He saw a chance at a loose puck and pinched in – a move he couldn’t make unless he was 100 percent sure he could get there.
He didn’t. Johnson tapped it past him, setting up a 3-on-2 break that led to Kucherov’s first goal.
Detroit took a 2-1 lead with a pair of goals early in the second period, but got caught standing around five minutes later. They had all five defenders back against three Lightning attackers, but Braydon Coburn was able to dump the puck to Kucherov at the edge of Howard’s crease.
With Helm and Kyle Quincey frozen in place, Kucherov was as allowed to shoot and then shove the rebound under Howard to tie the game.
April 13, 2016: Ben Bishop (30) of the Tampa Bay Lightning makes a save during Game 1 of Round 1. (Photograph by Roy K. Miller/Icon Sportswire)
Detroit can work on its breakouts and they can cut down on mental mistakes, but there’s one Tampa Bay advantage that isn’t likely to change – Ben Bishop.
Howard, who regained his No. 1 spot back from Petr Mrazek in the last weeks of the season, played a decent game, but Bishop was spectacular. Detroit had 23 medium-danger or high-danger shots and only scored once – their other goal took a deflection off a Lightning stick.
Tampa Bay didn’t create as many chances – especially in the first two periods – but Howard couldn’t match Bishop’s performance. He allowed three goals on 15 shots of medium danger or higher.
Howard is capable of having better games, but Detroit would be much better off with Mrazek playing at the level he showed from mid-December through mid-February. During that stretch, he was as good as any goaltender in the league, but a groin injury and the stress of his first season as the No. 1 goalie wore him down in March and April.
Blashill committed to Howard during Detroit’s final charge for the postseason, and isn’t likely to go back to Mrazek at this point. Meanwhile, the Lightning will have no doubts about Bishop, who led the league in goals-against average and was second in both save percentage and goalie point shares.
Detroit knows they can get back in the series – Tampa Bay isn’t the same without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman – but they need to be smarter and more disciplined than Game 1.
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