National Hockey League
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Detroit 3, Tampa Bay 2
When: 7:30 PM ET, Thursday, April 16, 2015
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees: Frederic L'Ecuyer, Chris Rooney
Linesmen: Tim Nowak, Steve Barton
Attendance: 19204

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Tampa Bay Lightning, which had the NHL's best home record in the regular season, opened the playoffs with a home loss Thursday night.

Detroit center Pavel Datsyuk scored twice to lead the Red Wings to a 3-2 win at Amalie Arena.

The Red Wings, seeded third in the Atlantic Division, won just one of four regular-season meetings with the Lightning but took the playoff opener despite being outshot 27-10 in the first two periods.

Detroit took a chance by starting Petr Mrazek, 23, in goal over veteran Jimmy Howard, 31, but Mrazek played superbly, making 44 saves.

The Red Wings opened a 3-1 lead early in the third period on a short-handed goal. Center Luke Glendening tracked down a loose puck deep in the Tampa Bay end, made a spin move to beat center Valtteri Filppula, then fired a backhander from behind past goalie Ben Bishop.

Tampa Bay pulled within one with 11:34 left after defenseman Nikita Nesterov scored his first career playoff goal. But he missed on a power play shortly after -- the Lightning finished 0 of 7 with the man-advantage, including a six-on-four for the final 12.8 seconds.

NOTES: The Lightning got three key players back from injury for Thursday's playoff opener. D Braydon Coburn returned after missing 14 games with a foot injury, D Andrej Sustr was back after missing six games with an upper-body injury, and C Alex Killorn played after missing three games with an undisclosed injury. The only Tampa Bay player still ailing is D Jason Garrison, who missed his seventh game with an upper-body injury. ... Lightning rookie LW Jonathan Drouin and D Mark Barberio were healthy scratches. ... Detroit LW Justin Abdelkader missed a 12th straight game with an upper-body injury, and G Jonas Gustavsson (head) and LW Erik Cole (upper body) remained sidelined. The Red Wings scratched D Brendan Smith, D Jakub Kindl, RW Daniel Cleary and LW Teemu Pulkkinen.
Top Game Performances
 
Detroit   Tampa Bay
Pavel Datsyuk 2 Points Brian Boyle 1
Pavel Datsyuk 1 Goals Brian Boyle 1
Darren Helm 2 Assists Ryan Callahan 1
Tomas Jurco 1 Power Play Goals N/A
Luke Glendening 1 Short Handed Goals Brian Boyle 1
Petr Mrazek .957 Save Percentage Ben Bishop .786
Petr Mrazek 44 Saves Ben Bishop 11
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Detroit 14 3 1-3 7-7 14 26
Tampa Bay 46 2 0-7 2-3 8 37
Upcoming Games
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Detroit. The Lightning have a W/L % of .560 after a win and .688 after a loss.
  • Detroit will play their next game on the road against Tampa Bay. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .488 after a win and .564 after a loss.