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The Detroit Red Wings have not found the answer to slowing down Tyler Johnson in the playoffs over the last two seasons and are running out of time as they host the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday for Game 3 of their first-round series.
There has been no love lost between the Detroit Red Wings and the Tampa Bay Lightning in their first round playoff series.
They are well aware they work in a field full of second-guessers. The Red Wings, however, broke through with a slap shot from the left face off circle past Bishop and into the net by Andreas Athanasiou.
Blashill also made two changes to the dress list, as Petr Mrazek took over for Jimmy Howard in goal, while Brandon Smith replaced Kyle Quincey on the blue line.
Abdelkader, who bloodied Lightning forward Mike Blunden in Game 2, was grabbed by Tampa forward Brian Boyle after Game 3.
An intriguing – and endearing – story line of the first-round series between the Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning has been the camaraderie between coaches Jeff Blashill and Jon Cooper. “Our biggest thing was we didn’t shoot the puck. They’re up 2-1 and we better have the same level of urgency that we showed up with last night in order to give ourselves the best chance to just even the series”.
Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk, who said he plans to retire from the National Hockey League after the playoffs, was called for tripping with 5:40 left and his teammates prevented Tampa Bay from making the most of the opportunity. We have absolutely no problem with two players dropping the gloves and knocking the holy bejesus out of one another. They play the exact same way every single time we play them.
Although Tampa Bay pushed for a goal, they were not to be rewarded, but they did attempt to get some vengeance for Mike Blunden’s beat-down in the last leg. He was +1 with a s on goal, 3 hits and 2 blocks.
Oh, and unleashing defenseman Brendan Smith proved to be smart. “It’s everybody. Forwards have been doing a good job back-pressuring and the D’s standing up, so it’s a combination of both”.
With less than a minute to go in the third period, multiple players began brawling in front of the Lightning net.
The Detroit Red Wings are still in this series but they need a win tonight at the Joe. It’s just part of the game.
– If there’s a silver lining in this loss, it that’s it was not a product of Bishop playing poorly. “Anytime you can draw on that experience I think it’s a good thing and we’re going to try to do that again in this series”.
The Lightning were out shot 11-3 by the Red Wings in the second period and were out shot 23-12 up to that point in the game.
There are conflicting reports, however, stating whether or not the Tampa Bay Lightning captain would be available should his team advance to the Stanley Cup finals.
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Game 2 will take place Sunday night at the Honda Center. And this one’s huge. “I’ve been in the playoffs before, but to be home in the playoffs, I’m pretty pumped”, he told the Tribune before Game 3.
