Red Wings-Lightning quick take: Wings fail a big test, but not all is lost

The Detroit Red Wings hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning for an essential Atlantic Division tilt on Saturday afternoon, with the Red Wings hoping to gain ground on the Bolts in the Atlantic and Wild Card standings, and holding a 7-game winning streak and a 7-0-and-1 record over their past 8 games.

This afternoon, the Red Wings failed their test, bluntly, and they did so because they had neither the defense nor goaltending to defeat Tampa Bay. Alex Lyon gave up 2 goals on 3 shots, Cam Talbot gave up 3 on 14, Detroit trailed 2-1 and 4-2 before they made it a 4-3 game, and Tampa would score the 5-3 marker as U of M alum Dylan Duke put the game away 4:10 into the 3rd.

Yes, the Red Wings mounted comebacks, and the final goal they surrendered to Brandon Hagel was merely an empty-netter…

But this was a frustrating, end-of-the-game-scrum-inducing loss, and now the Wings have to hope that the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Boston Bruins so that the Wings can hang on to that 2nd Wild Card spot.

It’s a bitter outcome and a bitter taste left in the Wings’ mouths for the 4 Nations break. Hopefully, they’ll come out of it with lessons learned, and they’ll be a better team for it.

In pregame warmups: Alex Lyon and Lightning rookie Dylan Duke, taking his “rookie lap,” led the Wings and Bolts out onto the ice at Little Caesars Arena:

Tampa Bay iced the following lineup…

And the Red Wings posted their lineup just before game time:

The starters and scratches were as follows:

In the 1st period, the Red Wings lined up Jonatan Berggren, J.T. Compher and Joe Veleno opposite Dylan Duke, Luke Glendening and Mitchell Chaffee, with Simon Edvinsson and Albert Johansson opposing Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak. In goal, Alex Lyon would duel Andrei Vasilevskiy.

The puck dropped at center ice at Little Caesars Arena at 1:08 PM, and Glendening mucked the faceoff back to McDonagh, who chipped. Lyon chased, reversed the flow, and Detroit was able to clear the zone, but only to the Bolts’ blueline, where Cernak and McDonagh chipped the puck out to center.

The Wings changed partially 25 seconds in, and Edvinsson pinched unwisely, so Kucherov sent a shot wide through Cirelli in the Wings’ end, and Seider and Chiarot came out to help the Larkin line work the top-line-vs-top-line match-up.

Cirelli skated in and rimmed a puck but it went out to center, so Tampa’s D regrouped, Tampa raced in and Brandon Hagel ripped a goal through Alex Lyon, who should have caught the puck at 1:28.

Brandon Hagel scored from Kucherov and Cernak at 1:28. 1-0 Tampa Bay.

On the bump-up shift, Detroit took possession for the first time during the game, and after a point shot from Holl, Rasmussen bumped Lilleberg, who was the player that concussed J.T. Compher. The players were separated by the refs.

Detroit’s Rasmussen line lost a deep offensive zone faceoff and the Bolts chipped, but Holl and Gustafsson cleared, and Girgensons and Eyssimont pushed a puck deep and into Lyon at 2:11.

The Compher line took to the ice to complete the four-line rotation, with Veleno winning the draw in the d-zone and Detroit pushing the puck deep into Tampa Bay’s zone, where Duke would clear and Detroit would chip the puck right back in, but Tampa dumped, Lyon chased, and Johansson pushed a Bolt over so that the Wings could clear.

Put bluntly, Detroit looked flat, and Tampa Bay scored a 2-0 goal as a result. Erik Cernak ripped a wrist shot past Alex Lyon, who was immediately pulled by Todd McLellan.

Cernak just ripped a shot through a screen of Cirelli and Johansson, and while Lyon was not at fault for the goal against, Tampa lead 2-0.

Cernak from Kucherov and McDonagh at 2:56. 2-0 Tampa Bay.

On the bump-up shift, Seider was blocked off a cycle by Raymond and Kasper, Larkin tapped a puck to Kasper, but his shot was blocked in the slot and up came Tampa, who were stifled 2-on-1 against Seider, he raced up, Kasper fed Raymond and he was stopped, then Kasper fed Larkin instead of shooting, and the Bolts stifled a 2-on-0 as a result at 3:49.

Tampa had scored on 2 of the 3 shots that Alex Lyon faced.

The Rasmussen line came out and steadied the ship to some extent almost 5 minutes into the 1st, but Tampa Bay was a driven team, and the Bolts were dominating possession and control–and puck battle wins–in the Red Wings’ end of the ice.

Berggren made a good block of a Vasilevskiy pass with 5:45 gone, but Veleno could not set up in the offensive zone, and a Seider block of a Bolts pass did not work in springing Veleno…

Tampa was really racing up the wings and charging up the ice to back Detroit off defensively…

And when Lucas Raymond dropped the puck to Dylan Larkin with 13:21 left in the 1st, Larkin flubbed the shot on Vasilevskiy, who made an easy glove stop.

When play resumed after a TV timeout, DeBrincat ripped a shot off Vasilevskiy’s pads;

Detroit was at least dumping the puck in at center ice, if not chasing, and Soderblom came back to help Seider and Chiarot clear the zone before Hagel raced in and fired a shot off Talbot at 7:45.

The Lightning then got another 3-on-2, but Holl and Gustafsson steered the Bolts into the boards instead of toward the Wings’ slot…

Just short of 9:00 into the 1st, Larkin chipped and chased his own puck, and Kasper and Raymond helped, but McDonagh was able to easily ice the puck from goal line to goal line as the Wings were over-powered behind the Bolts’ net.

The Wings won the offensive zone faceoff, but made nothing of the Bolts’ first icing call; the second icing, from Cernak, yielded a keep-in from DeBrincat and a shot from Tarasenko that Vasilevskiy stopped before Tampa cleared…

Then the Red Wings were able to generate a turnover at center ice, and as Moritz Seider helped the Copp line race up 3-on-3, DeBrincat tipped the puck back to Seider in the high slot, he shot the puck and Vladimir Tarasenko tipped home his 300th goal through Vasilevskiy.

Detroit scored Tarasenko from Seider and DeBrincat at 9:45. 2-1 Tampa Bay.

The Red Wings had a solid bump-up shift, but the Kucherov line was utterly dominant in terms of possession and control, even against the Wings’ Larkin line, so Tampa Bay pushed hard to go up 3-1, and the Wings looked a bit wobbly at times.

Tampa was winning their fair share of faceoffs, too, and Talbot had to blocker away a Raddysh shot at 11:30;

And Tampa Bay charged up the ice off a bad pass at the blueline by Simon Edvinsson, and while 4 players were standing around Bradyen Point, and Goncalves fed the slot man, who roofed the puck past a helpless Cam Talbot.

Point scored at 11:49 from Goncalves and Hagel to make it 3-1 Tampa Bay.

Again, the Wings’ bump-up shift was just OK, and it was by the Larkin line, and while Seider made a nice stop of the Bolts’ rush at the blueline, Tampa would begin to cycle in the Wings’ zone again, regroup at center, and cycle in the Wings’ zone again.

After a TV timeout, Michael Rasmussen would lose a deep offensive zone faceoff, but Elmer Soderblom blasted a puck into Vasilevskiy, and Lilleberg and Rasmussen got into it a bit again, with Rasmussen being the aggressor…

Rasmussen wanted a piece of Lilleberg after Lilleberg concussed Compher in the teams’ last meeting.

Detroit’s Rasmussen won the next draw, but Kane fired a shot that was blocked by Cernak at the point, and Kane had to poke check Cernak to keep the Bolts’ defender from rushing away on a breakaway;

So the Wings’ lines were already in a bit of a blender.

But a bad Kasper turnover at center ice yielded a breakaway for Nick Paul and the Bolts’ 4th goal on 7 1st period shots, with Paul finding light between Talbot’s pads.

There’s no video of this one, for reasons beyond me.

Tampa Bay led 4-1 on the Nick Paul goal from Hagel and Cernak 15:13 of the 1st.

The Wings’ bump-up shift was just OK–from Compher’s line–and the Copp line succeeded Compher’s, but Nikita Kucherov tripped Ben Chiarot at 16:46, affording Detroit its first power play.

On the power play, Larkin lost the deep offensive zone faceoff, but Raymond pushed the puck back to himself, he regrouped to send the puck down to DeBrincat at the left post, and DeBrincat lateralled to Patrick Kane, who stuffed home the 4-2 goal at 16:54.

Kane scored the 4-2 goal on the power play, from DeBrincat and Raymond.

Soon after, Vasilevskiy made a tremendous stop on the Compher line from the side of the net with about 1:45 remaining in the 1st…

As play continued, Larkin chugged up the LW side, stopped, and Raymond was tripped up by McDonagh and Guentzel sans penalty, with the fans booing loudly due to the uncalled trip…

DeBrincat dropped the puck to Chiarot in the slot for a ripper with 45 seconds left in the 1st, because Vasilevskiy bumbled a puck-play…

And the Wings brought out the Rasmussen line for the final shift, with Point winning the deep offensive zone draw, Point racing up lw side, stopping, passing to the blueline, and Detroit blocking one shot, and Talbot blockering away the second shot.

That was the first period.

In the 2nd period, Detroit had to dig out of a significant hole against a tremendous Lightning team, which had gone 3-0-and-1 over its last 4 games.

Soderblom, Rasmussen and Kane started vs. the Point line, Detroit won the initial faceoff, but a neutral zone turnover yielded a Paul shot that went wide and to the blueline, where Chiarot and Seider regrouped twice, fed Kane, and he worked for Seider, who chipped, Detroit could not chase, and Lilleberg got hit by Rasmussen heavily, but cleanly…

And Kane worked a turnover to Rasmussen via Seider, for a backhand shot on goal that Vasilevskiy stopped…

Detroit looked better but not great as they continued to struggle through the neutral zone and Edvinsson made a terrible turnover in his own end that Cirelli, Guentzel and Kucherov nearly scored upon once, with Talbot a stop, and twice, with Talbot blockering away a point shot, all off one turnover by Edvinsson, at 2:00.

Another defensive zone turnover by DeBrincat yielded Hagel and Goncalves nearly converting on scoring chances at 2:28.

Tampa was dominating the faceoff circle, too, and that yielded many occasions when the Red Wings did not start plays with the puck on their sticks.

A Berggren icing call yielded Point SENDING A PASS TO KUCHEROV FOR A TUCK-IN at the side of the Wings’ goal at 3:15…But Kucherov SLID THE PUCK THROUGH THE CREASE AND WIDE BEHIND TALBOT.

The trio of Kucherov, Point and Guentzel yielded another cycle off a faceoff win at the Wings’ blueline, with McDonagh and Cernak helping the Bolts sustain pressure. Talbot had to stifle a long point shot and hold on so that the Wings could peel the Compher line off the ice.

At the other end of the ice, the Larkin line at least forced Vasilevskiy to make a side-of-the-net save at 4:43, and Larkin dug out a faceoff to Seider and Chiarot, who ripped a wide pass to Raymond, then Kasper,Raymond fed Larkin in front, and he was TACKLED from behind by PERBIX, sans call!

Ben Chiarot also got a heavy hit in on Eyssimont at the Red Wings’ blueline, and Chiarot’s skate cut Eyssimont accidentally, which was scary, at 5:45.

As play continued, Ucherov, Cirelli and Haggel worked together, but at the other end of the ice, Soderblom worked 1-on-2, got the puck to Edvinsson, who sent a shot in on Vasilevskiy, the rebound came to Kane, and Kucherov was called for an illegal hook on Kane at 6:30.

On the power play, Larkin’s unit won the initial faceoff to Kane and then Seider, Raymond fed DeBrincat low and he put a puck off Vasilevskiy’s shoulder, Kane cycled, shot off Vasilevskiy, Larkin fed Raymond to DeBrincat wrap back to Kane, to Larkin, to Raymond skate to stick, Larkin bumper stopped, rebound DeBrincat stopped, Raymond walks to Larkin slot for Raymond from Seider, now Larkin regains, cycle…

Larkin feeds DeBrincat stopped Vasilevskiy, Kane cycles to Larkin rw to Raymond LW from Seider, to DeBrincat down low below goal line, DeBrincat to Raymond lw side, 40 left PP, to Seider shot blockered into the crowd by Vasilevskiy with 33 left PP.

Good momentum, no results.

Detroit’s Rasmussen, Berggren, Copp, Tarasenko and Gustafsson mucked a fafceoff to Gustafsson, down low Berggren to Gustafsson to Berggren to Gustafsson wide, Tarasenko to Gustafsson TIPPED SHOT by Rasmussen off Vasilevskiy JUST wide, cycle post PP to Berggren wide..

Detroit got EIGHT SHOTS ON THE POWER PLAY.

And the Bolts got the puck back with 7:56 gone in the 2nd.

The struggling Edvinsson-Johansson pairing took to the ice after the PP ended, and the Bolts got a shot off on Talbot, who blockered one away.

As play continued…

Seider chugged up the gut himself at 10:00, Larkin held the line, and Seider sent a shot in on Vasilevskiy that was stopped, Berggren swiped the puck and Holl got a shot off on Vasilevskiy…

Berggren fed Compher rt wing side, Gustafsson fed Berggren, Compher blocked, reverse to Berggren, to Gustafsson lw half boards, cycle, Compher to Veleno wide as Nick Paul tripped Berggren once, twice…

Disappointing.

The clock was becoming Detroit’s enemy as well.

DeBrincat THEN FED TARASENKO in the slot at 11:36, but Vasilevskiy made a TREMENDOUS 5-hole and blocker stop to stifle Tarasenko’s shot.

Detroit was out-shooting Tampa 13-5 at 11:36.

Marco Kasper sent a shot in on Tarasenko, Seider held the line, and KASPER FED RAYMOND in the slot but Raymond was HELD UP and that stopped a goal from being scored on an out-of-position Vasilevskiy…

Detroit continued to cycle as Larkin, Raymond and Kasper worked with Seider’s keep-in to give Kasper a scoring chance…

THANKFULLY, Detroit stifled a 3-on-1 thanks to a stumbly-wumbly interception of a pass and a deke-and-fumble in the slot by Point…

The, “Let’s Go Red Wings” chant fueled Alex DeBrincat, who scored the 4-3 marker with 5:31 remaining after swiping the puck from Taylor Raddysh, picking the puck out of the air, and racing in on Vasilevskiy, who could not stop DeBrincat’s wrister.

Alex DeBrincat scored the 4-3 marker at 14:29 of the 2nd period.

On the post-goal shift, Raddysh tackled DeBrincat to nearly steal the puck and skate in on Talbot, but Detroit persisted with Seider and Chiarot stifling the break-in…

Detroit’s Johansson, Raymond, and Kasper cycled with Edvinsson, to Raymond it went, and off Larkin the puck was tipped wide by a Bolt…

Kucherov was behind the Wings’ D, but Detroit stifled his would-be breakaway, and instead, Raymond cycled and tried to center it, but Tampa stood firm…

Hedman PICKED OFF Raymond, Larkin SENT A SHOT WIDE and Raymond RIPPED A SIDE SHOT on Vasilevskiy, who made a great stop…

Kane backhanded a right wing shot on Vasilevskiy, stopped, Soderblom fed Seider, he walked to Rasmussen drop to Kane to Seider deke dangle point to Chiarot who was out of position, and the Bolts cleared their zone…

The crowd was buzzing with 3:00 left in the 2nd, and Detroit was rocking and rolling in the offensive zone, but they could not tie the game…

Detroit then got a deep offensive zone faceoff that Copp lost, and the Bolts cleared the mucked-up win by Detroit, but the Wings stopped Tampa’s advance at center ice, Cernak begged for a call after DeBrincat dumped the Bolts defenseman, and the Wings could not set up offensively…

A TV timeout hit with 1:53 left, and Detroit was leading in shots 19-4…

Off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, and a bad pinch by Chiarot, Raymond would help the Wings backcheck, Chiarot would bumble, and Tampa would work down low, but Point was buffered by Seider once, twice, and Talbot gobbled up the loose puck with 1:12 remaining.

In the final minute of play, Tampa would ice the puck with 53.2 left in the period, the Copp line took to the ice, but lost the deep offensive zone faceoff, and Tarasenko regrouped at the blueline, Copp missed the keep-in, Edvinsson kicked the puck back into the zone, Edvinsson helped DeBrincat and Copp cycle, then the Bolts pushed the puck deep, Talbot fed the puck up ice via a nice rim around, and Tampa would finish the period in puck possession…

With Cernak and Rasmussen separated behind play.

In the 3rd period, Copp lost the opening draw, Tampa chipped and chased, retrieved, regrouped as Seider was held up by Hagel, and Chiarot helped clear the puck out to center and down the ice, where a soft icing call was called.

Copp lost the next faceoff, Raddysh’s shot was tipped just wide of the net by Eyssimont, and Seider lost the puck in his feet, Girgensons bumped, Chiarot helped, DeBrincat helped, he could not clear past Girgensons once, but twice, DeBrincat raced up through center and afforded Detroit a change 1:00 into the 3rd;

The Rasmussen line took to the ice, and forced Tampa to ice the puck 1:22 in…

Larkin won the faceoff to Edvinsson, but Tampa cleared out to center ice, and Johansson battled the puck to Raymond, to Larkin, shoulder stop Vasilevskiy, Raymond feeds Larkin the slot, stop Vasilevskiy.

Rasmussen’s line returned, but spent its time south of center ice, battling Brayden Point until Patrick Kane came onto the ice, circled and fed Larkin left wing side, and Larkin was battling 1-on-2, but he fed Chiarot, Seider sent the puck to Kane in the slot, and Perbix cleared the zone, but not before the Wings changed quickly and charged onto the ice with Kasper and Raymond joining the fray…

Talbot made a SUPERB stop on Guentzel’s tip of a blueline shot;

Guentzel then fed Cirelli and Kucherov could not convert, Cirelli could not convert, and Talbot GOBBLED UP a puck that all three Bolts forwards were battling for against Gustafsson and Seider.

As play continued, the Bolts were more and more dominant in the Red Wings’ goal, and Dylan Duke would score the 5-3 goal at 4:10 because Holl and Gustafsson got lost as Talbot gave up a bad rebound.

Duke scored at 4:10 from Mitchell Chaffee and Perbix…

On the bump-up shift, TARASENKO got two tremendous chances, but he was stopped spectacularly…

And instead, Point and Perbix hacked and whacked on Talbot, who stood tall for Detroit…

The Bolts were still making defensive mistakes, but the Red Wings were making catastrophic mistakes, and Moritz Seider had to make a tremendous pass block to stop a 2-on-1 against…

The clock became the Red Wings’ worst enemy as play progressed, and while Tampa Bay was really having a good period, and yelling and screaming every time the Red Wings touched their players…

It was the Wings’ inability to stifle Tampa’s forecheck and move up the ice with speed that seemed to be the worst of Detroit’s problems, with the Wings’ finishing on Vasilevskiy its second-worst problem.

With 12:31 remaining, a TV timeout hit, and the Red Wings steadied a bit, but as the Wings broke into the Lightning zone, DeBrincat shanked a 1-on-0 shot wide of Vasilevskiy, Seider stumbled, and Chiarot had to block a heavy shot from Guentzel to stifle the Bolts’ momentum.

As the 11-minutes-left mark hit, Larkin, Raymond and Kasper were trying desperately to get the puck to settle down in the Bolts’ zone, and so they had to change lines, with Compher’s group replacing them…

Edvinsson, who was having a rough game, gave the puck away at the Bolts’ blueline, and he was hit heavily when Tampa cycled into the Wings’ end…

The 10-minute mark hit quickly, and the Wings were still winning fewer faceoffs than the Bolts, which complicated their comeback attempts.

Rasmussen, Kane and Edvinsson cycled for Seider, he regrouped left wing side and backhanded a couple of passes off the glass, but he ended up blocking off Guentzel instead, charging back into his own zone to stifle Kucherov, and clearing the puck down the ice with 8:53 left in the 3rd.

After Justin Holl got stripped of the puck by Chafee, Gustafsson charged over to the right side of the ice to help Holl with 8:20 remaining, succeeding in stifling a 3-on-2 against…

When play resumed after a TV timeout with 7:50 remaining, Chiarot shanked a shot wide, Seider held it in and rimmed for Raymond, but Kucherov stole the puck to Cirelli to Guentzel, to the line for McDonagh, around the back boards for Kucherov and Cernak, held McDonagh, blocked Seider for Kasper to Larkin, in for Kasper, battle for Raymond rw, reverse, reverse, to Larkin, to Edvinsson center point shot wide as Cernak blocked a shot and lost his stick…

But he was given a new twig by the Bolts’ bench, and Berggren, Raymond and Johansson and Edvinsson fed to Compher as the Wings cycled, Kane held the blueline, deked, dangled, and Berggren roofed a shot over Vasilevskiy…

With 5:35 left, Detroit changed, leading in shots 34-17…

DeBrincat was stopped, Holl got a shot off on Vasilevskiy, and the last TV timeout of regulation hit with 5:21 left.

When play resumed…

Detroit won an offensive blueline faceoff, but ultimately, Tampa chipped the puck down the ice sans icing, Tampa stole the puck from Detroit at center ice, and Gustafsson and Seider, being double-shifted, worked till 4:33 to clear the zone…

Kane shot a shot off Vasilevskiy’s blocker, playing with Larkin and Raymond, and a point shot from Seider was gloved by Vasilevskiy…

With 4:20 left…

Tarsaenko shanked another shot wide, DeBrincat cycled with Larkin and cane with the net empty, Kane cycled to Tarasenko, for Kane, down low Larkin stopped, shott rolls wide of the empty net by Guentzel….

So Raymond cycles skates up the gut drops for Kane through center chip chase Hedman blasts it off Tarasenko and Kucherov sends it to the stick of Tarasenko…

DeBrincat for Raymond into the Bolts’ zone 3:10 left, Seider for Raymond for DeBrincat to Kane, Seider center point, to Kane, rim to Larkin, loses it, Raymond to Seider blocked regains to Raymond walks to DeBrincat…

Sedier to Kane blast wide, DeBrincat to Seider, shot off Larkin stung, off his skates, skates toward the bench doubled over in pain, to the bench…

Copp and Gustafsson come on with 2:15 left, Berggren to Copp McDonagh, block to Hagel, Hagel scores the empty-netter with 2:03 left, 6-3 Tampa Bay.

Hagel from Kucherov and McDonagh at 17:57 3rd period, ENG, 6-3 Tampa Bay.

The final few minutes involved Detroit understanding that it had failed its test. The Wings were skating with heavy hearts, Tampa was looking for a 7-3 goal, and Kasper, Rasmussen and Soderblom surveyed the ice, Edvinsson chugged up and in, Edvinsson battled down low with 10 seconds left, and Soderblom could not center it fast enough, so time expired…

And Rasmussen, Soderblom and Kasper bumped and ground as the BOLTS tried to goad Simon Edvinsson into a fight, with Nick Paul doing his best to send a stupid message.

Cernak wanted Kasper, too, but the referees separated them…

And Edvinsson would not afford Perbix quiet, nor Eyssimont, so Paul and Edvinsson said some things, and Edvinsson had to be escorted to the bench by the referee, as did Rasmussen.

Statistics: Here are the Game Summary and Event Summary:

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George Malik

My name is George Malik, and I'm the Malik Report's editor/blogger/poster. I have been blogging about the Red Wings since 2006, and have worked with MLive and Kukla's Korner. Thank you for reading!

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