The first game of the Detroit Red Wings’ playoff series with the Tampa Bay Lightning followed a familiar script – Tyler Johnson’s line stealing the show and paving the way to a Tampa Bay victory.
The unit of Johnson with Nikita Kucherov and Alex Killorn scored all three goals as the Lightning edged Detroit 3-2 Wednesday at Amalie Arena in Game 1 of this best-of-seven opening-round series.
“They’ve got lots of talent and Johnson, Kucherov and Killorn are all good players,… Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “They were able to produce tonight.
“We’ve got to do a better job of stopping them. We’ve got to find a way to score that one extra goal and keep that one extra goal out.…
Last spring, when the Lightning edged Detroit in a tight seven-game series, Johnson scored six goals.
“Johnson is impressive,… Detroit forward Joakim Andersson said. “They’re fast, real fast and skilled, so you’ve got to give them no room. If they get no room they can’t use that speed.…
Go To The Net Killorn’s game winner was a simple play but summed up the type of goals you can expect to see during a Stanley Cup playoff series. Johnson threw a puck at the Detroit net from a sharp angle and Killorn, crashing the crease of Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, was able to get his stick on it and deflect the puck into the net.
Earlier, the Lightning tied it 2-2 when Kucherov went hard to the blue paint and jammed a rebound under Howard.
“Killorn went to the net and got his stick on it,… Howard said of the winner. “Both teams did a great job of going to the net and that’s what playoff hockey is all about, getting there and sticking around and hopefully getting a deflection.…
With 6-7 Ben Bishop in goal for the Lightning, traffic is essential if the Wings want to score on the large netminder.
“We want to get traffic obviously in front of him,… Detroit forward Justin Abdelkader said. “He’s a big goalie and even pucks he doesn’t see a lot of times hit him. But I still think we can do a good job in front of their net and take away his eyes.
“I thought we had a lot of good looks tonight. (Riley) Sheahan had a good chance coming down the slot there. Greener (Mike Green) looked like he just missed there at the end.
“If we keep doing the right things, pucks are going to go in. Obviously we’ve got to win those battles in front of the net.…
Abdelkader ended a personal 16-game playoff goal-scoring drought when he tipped home a Green shot to put Detroit up 2-1 early in the second period.
“It's not brain science, we all know it,… Detroit captain Henrik Zetterberg of the number of greasy goals. “Those are the goals that's got to go in. Their game-winner, just throw in the puck and it hit their stick.
“There's a lot of ugly goals in the playoffs and we know that.…
Rookie Debuts Detroit forwards Dylan Larkin and Andreas Athanasiou both made their Stanley Cup debuts Wednesday.
“Yeah, it was really intense and physical,… said Larkin, who was flattened by Killorn in front of the Lightning net early in the game. “You know they came out flying and I thought we did a good job of matching the intensity and the physicality.
“I learned a lot tonight about what I need to bring in Game 2.…
Blashill offered mixed reviews on the performances of his two kids.
“I thought Larks did a good job,… Blashill said. “I was happy with most of our guys but I also think there’s another level and so we’ll have to get to that next level.…
One of those who needs to pick up the pace is Athanasiou.
“Obviously Athanasiou is one of those guys who can make something out of nothing,… Blashill said. “I didn’t think he skated as well as he has in the past. I think he’s got to do a better job of attacking the game when he gets the puck on his stick or when he’s away from the puck. So that’s something we’ll talk about.…
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