Wings hope to stop Lightning’s momentum

The Tampa Bay Lightning dominated every element of play except the scoreboard in their opener against the Detroit Red Wings, but managed to fix that in Game 2.

With the series tied and momentum firmly in Tampa Bay’s favour, the Lightning head to Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night looking to replicate that success on the road—something they were unable to do during the regular season.

Tampa Bay fell to Detroit 3-2 in Thursday’s opener despite controlling the contest with a plus-32 shot differential — the largest positive margin in a regulation post-season defeat since 1996 — while Ben Bishop surrendered three goals on 14 shots.

The Lightning scored on a league-best 10.7 per cent of their shots during the regular season, but converted just 4.3 per cent in Game 1. They had 16 fewer shots in Saturday’s Game 2, but scored on 16.7 per cent to down the Red Wings 5-1.

“We played very similar to what we did the other night ... I thought we were pretty good in Game 1,” coach Jon Cooper said.

For Detroit, splitting the two-game set in Tampa will likely be considered a success considering the Lightning’s proficiency on home ice. They finished as the NHL’s best team at home with 65 points.