After splitting the first two games of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Detroit Red Wings at Amalie Arena, the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to take to the ice tomorrow for Game Three at Joe Louis Arena. With the two teams knotted at one win each, this contest could and likely will be pivotal.
Looking back on games one and two, it’s a little bit difficult to gauge where the Red Wings and Lightning are at heading into this consequential outing. The Lightning dominated game one, but were stoned by phenomenal goaltending by Petr Mrazek on their way to a crushing loss. The Red Wings were the better team in game two, but the Bolts’s offense broke through Mrazek’s force field and lifted Tampa to a 5-1 victory. Will the trend that has seen the second best team claim wins continue in Detroit? That might be something to keep an eye on.
On the whole, though, Tampa Bay has to be happy with what transpired in Florida. Unlike last year against the Montreal Canadiens, the Bolts managed to manufacture a win; it was the team’s first playoff victory since that magical run in 2011. What the first two games of this series demonstrated is that Detroit is going to need great goaltending to win games. When the Wings get that goaltending, they’re tough to beat. When the Lightning’s shooters are on their game, however, the series looks a lot different.
The question heading into game three is whether or not Lightning head coach Jon Cooper will stick with the lineup that earned him his first career playoff win. Based on Joe Smith’s report from practice today, it looks like he probably will:
Same #TBLightning lines: Killorn-Stamkos-Callahan/Palat-Johnson-Kucherov/Namestnikov-Filppula-Paquette/morrow-Boyle-brown.
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) April 20, 2015#TBLightning d-pairings: Hedman-Sustr, Carle-Coburn, Nesterov-Stralman. Garrison w Barberio, so maybe still out.
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) April 20, 2015The Red Wings, for their part, will make two lineup changes. Per HockeyBuzz's Bob Duff, both Justin Abdelkader and Brendan Smith are expected to be in Mike Babcock's lineup tomorrow. Abdelkader was a solid contributor all season long, so getting him back in the Detroit lineup only means more of a challenge for Tampa's defense.
After watching the Red Wings steal game one in their barn, the Lightning likely want to return the favor. A win in Game Three would put the pressure on Detroit, and give Tampa a great chance to win the series. A loss in Game Three does the opposite, as it would put the Bolts down 2-1 with Game Four in Detroit right on the horizon. Simply put, it would be nearly impossible to understate the importance of this game. We’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out!
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.