Despite their pitfalls, the Tampa Bay Lightning found a way to get the job done when it was most important and unceremoniously eliminate the Detroit Red Wings and move onto the next round of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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Mrazek, who replaced Jimmy Howard after the Red Wings lost the first two games of the series on the road, finished with 23 saves.
The game was on – a 2-2 tie entering the third period, with the direction of the series clearly on the line.
In a game filled with established stars, Drouin seemed to be the most dynamic player in Game 4.
Tampa Bay didn’t have much success against either team in the regular season, going 1-3-1 against Florida and 1-2 against NY.
After a 4-1 series win, the Lightning goes to the Eastern Conference semifinals to face the victor of the Panthers-Islanders series, which is tied 2-2. “We just couldn’t score”. “We don’t. That’s something we will have to address”.
DUCKS 3, PREDATORS 0: Frederik Andersen made 27 saves, and Anaheim shut out Nashville to pull within 2-1 in the first-round playoff series.
“He faced a lot of shots tonight, a lot of Grade-A chances”, Callahan said.
“Either you win or you go home and the season’s over”, defenseman Niklas Kronwall said. Anthony Mantha was on the team and was one the ice for six of those goals, scoring both his goals with the man advantage.
At a crucial time, the Detroit Red Wings played part time, flunked special teams, lacked discipline and again showed themselves unable to play two good games in a row. Neither team could muster a penalty for a power play in the final period.
That’s when Lightning winger Ryan Callahan saw the opportunity to pressure the Detroit netminder in a different kind of way and straight-up rushed Mrazek from behind. “After the second period, we still had a chance – and we probably shouldn’t have had a chance”.
Not the Tampa Bay Lightning, at least not presently, with the way Nikita Kucherov, Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson are filling the scoring shoes of their injured captain. Now the Red Wings have to win three games in a row, including two in Tampa Bay, to avoid elimination. After seeing the penalty out, Nyquist quickly got the last laugh of the period, with only ten seconds left on the clock. It was his first goal of the series.
Kucherov has five goals in the series, only three fewer than the Red Wings have registered. Until Darren Helm got the Red Wings on the board with five minutes left in the period.
Will the Lightning wrap up this series in 5 games? C Jonathan Marchessault and D Matt Taormina were healthy scratches…. Detroit emerged victorious in Game 3 by a 2-0 margin when the series shifted to the Joe Louis Arena, but dropped Game 4, 3-2, on Tuesday. Once the playoff schedule has been decided upon, fans with tickets will be notified by email so they can print their tickets 48 hours before each game.
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Of course if you want something even more depressing, because maybe you’re just in the mood to torture yourself, check out the Wings power play in their series with the Lightning.
