RED WINGS AT LIGHTNING

When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. ET, CBC The series: Tied 3-3. The skinny: There’s been lots of handwringing about the lack of offensive numbers put up by the NHL’s elite players this season. Heck, even the great Steven Stamkos came in well under a point-per-game pace. But bubbling under the surface for the Lightning: its “second line” featuring Tyler Johnson, Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Johnson tied Stamkos with 72 points. Kucherov had 65. Palat had 63. That’s exactly 200 points from the second line. What do they think this is, 1984? And so it’s continued in the playoffs for this trio whose age averages under 23 years old. While Stamkos hasn’t scored in six games, and the Lightning failed to score in two games against previously unheralded Wings goalie Petr Mrazek, the kids have 14 points — not far off their season average. Johnson’s scored a pair of goals in each of the three Lightning wins; if he does it again Wednesday, you have to like their chances of advancing to the second round for just the second time since their 2004 Stanley Cup title.