Lightning, Red Wings in Game 7

One more game in the first round of the NHL playoffs. One last chance to catch a memorable duel between Tampa Bay forward Tyler Johnson and Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek.

Johnson and the Lightning host Mrazek and the Red Wings in Game 7 of their seesaw series tonight. The winner then travels to Montreal for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Friday night.

“This is Game 7. We worked extremely hard to get ourselves in this position,” Tampa Bay star Steven Stamkos said Tuesday. “No one remembers what happened in Game 1,2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. We have to be a lot better than we have been. They’ve come in here and beat us twice. We have that mentality we were the best team at home in the league for a reason, and we have to show that.”

Detroit had a chance to eliminate Tampa Bay at home Monday night, but Johnson collected two more goals to lead the Lightning to a 5-2 victory. Jason Garrison, Alex Killorn and Cedric Paquette also scored as the league’s highest-scoring team in the regular season got untracked after being held in check by Mrazek and the Red Wings for much of the first round.

But Detroit won at Tampa Bay in Games 1 and 5, and the teams have alternated wins in the series. Each team has scored 15 goals, as well.

“That’s playoffs,” Lightning forward Ryan Callahan said. “Shows how evenly matched up we are. It’s a very good team over there, and we’ve got a good team in here. Going back and forth.”

The Red Wings will be without Niklas Kronwall after the veteran defenseman wiped out Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov with a huge hit late in the second period, knocking his helmet off. No penalty was called and Kucherov took seven shifts in the third, finishing with three assists.

But the NHL announced Tuesday that Kronwall was suspended for Game 7 for “launching into a hit” on Kucherov.

“I thought it was a good hit,” Detroit coach Mike Babcock said before the suspension was announced. “Kucherov was leaning back trying to get out of the way. Kroner’s foot was on the ice when he made contact.”

CAPITALS: After helping Washington win its firstround playoff series against the Islanders, backup goalie Philipp Grubauer was reassigned to Hershey of the American Hockey League on Tuesday, a day after the Capitals eliminated New York.