Red Wings shoot down Lightning
Sam Gagner scored to end an eight-round shootout and Thomas Greiss stopped 33 shots, lifting the host Detroit Red Wings to a 1-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday.
The defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning were in control all afternoon, but it didn’t show up on the scoreboard in regulation or overtime.
In the shootout, both teams scored with their first two shooters before four in a row were denied. Greiss stopped just enough shots in the shootout to help his rebuilding and banged-up team beat one of the best in the league.
Tampa Bay’s Curtis McElhinney made 15 saves over three periods and overtime.
Detroit’s defense was stingy all game, including early in the first when Danny DeKeyser lay on the ice to take away a scoring chance for the Lightning. When the pucks did get past the Red
Wings’ skaters, Greiss stopped them with impressive kick and glove saves.
Tampa Bay also missed opportunities such as Ondrej Palat failing to take advantage of having the puck and an open net at the end of a 2-on-1 rush during a 4-on-4 situation.
A Bruins 6, Sabres 2: Craig Smith scored three goals Saturday to help host Boston complete its season-series dominance over Buffalo.
With its ninth victory in 11 games, Boston slipped into third place in the NHL’s East division, a point ahead of the Islanders. New York hosts the Rangers on Saturday night.
Nick Ritchie added a goal and an assist, and Sean Kuraly and Patrice Bergeron also had a goal for Boston. Rookie goalie Jeremy Swayman made 18 saves in his eighth start, and David Krejci had three assists — all on Smith’s goals.
The Bruins went 7-1 against the Sabres this season and improved to 21-4-1 in the teams’ last 26 meetings.
Arttu Ruotsalainen scored, and Riley Sheahan added a shorthanded goal for Buffalo, which has lost six of seven.
Buffalo rookie goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, making his third straight start, got his left leg caught awkwardly next to the post late in the closing seconds of the second period. He dropped to the ice and had to be helped off skating slowly after the period ended. He stopped 26 shots before Dustin Tokarski played the third.
Smith’s first goal had made it 1-0 just 1:21 into the game when he redirected Krejci’s pass into the net. His second goal increased it to 5-1 in the third, and he completed the hat trick by redirecting Krejci’s pass by Tokarski from the slot for a powerplay score with 5:55 to play. It’s his first hat trick with Boston.