Lightning knock out Red Wings
TAMPA, FLA.— The Detroit Red Wings couldn’t slay the giant.
Their playoff hopes melted away Thursday night, their attempts at extending their first-round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning denied by goaltender Ben Bishop.
They lost 1-0 at Amalie Arena, bumped from the 2016 playoffs after just five games. They played well enough to win Thursday night, but Bishop played bigger than his teammates, making 32 saves.
The Wings put themselves into position to be eliminated with a poor night on special teams in the previous game. Overall, they lacked for scoring, unable to take advantage of an opponent missing its captain and leading goal scorer, and its secondbest defenseman. Henrik Zetterberg had just one goal in the series, Gustav Nyquist also one goal, Tomas Tatar no goals but three assists, and Pavel Datsyuk no points at all.
It was a heartbreaking end to a wellplayed game. Going behind his net to play the puck, Petr Mrazek misjudged what he was doing, enabling Ryan Callahan to steal the puck and get it to Alex Killorn for a goal with 1:43 to play in regulation.
Had Detroit’s power play worked, the night might have gone differently. The Wings were handed as golden an opportunity to score as there is when they got 1:14 with two extra skaters four minutes into the game. Even with that much of an advantage the Wings passed and passed, and Brian Boyle blocked the pucks that were fired towards Bishop. The best chance came from Datsyuk, who had a backhand go off the near post. At least the penalty killers came through when they were put to the task midway through the first period.
The Wings had to start the second period short-handed, but that was accomplished without Mrazek even having to make a save. A third penalty kill saw Riley Sheahan test Bishop on a breakaway and Darren Helm also create a scoring chance by the crease. The Wings played so well to start the second period, they ran up a 6-2 edge in shots the first 10 minutes. A fourth penalty kill saw Mrazek make a big save on Jason Garrison and Helm create another chance just as the stretch ended.
Zetterberg got his team a third power play after drawing a penalty on Tampa Bay’s elite defenceman, Victor Hedman, but even with him in the box the Wings couldn’t convert. Bishop ended the period with a pad save on Dylan Larkin.
Mrazek, who’d made 14 saves after 40 minutes, had to be sharper as the Lightning mounted an attack. Larkin had another chance turned away. Tyler Johnson, so deadly against the Wings, got a great chance that Mrazek gobbled up. Poor puck management by Tampa Bay got the Wings back-to-back scoring opportunities in the third period, but Bishop played as big as his six-foot-seven frame. Helm had yet another chance down low, only to find Bishop ready. An odd-man rush saw Mike Green fire a shot into Bishop’s belly. Luke Glendening turned a takeaway into a shot. Bishop never relented.