Morning Skate: Red Wings at Lightning
Game 49
7:30p ET, Amalie Arena
Tampa, FL
TV: Fox Sports Detroit
Radio: 97.1 The Ticket
Lightning Blog: Raw Charge
The Red Wings visit Tampa tonight and I must confess that I like it when we play the Lightning. I have a massive hockey crush on Stamkos, I like Ben Bishop, and of course Steve Yzerman has my respect. They no longer have Dick Panik, and I have nothing against Filppula. Of course I want the Wings to annihilate the Bolts tonight, take both points, and leave the Lightning licking their wounds, but tomorrow I'll have a soft spot for them all over again. The Wings currently sit one point ahead of the Bolts for the division lead and 2nd in the Eastern Conference, but the lead can be a fickle, fickle thing, so I demand 2 points tonight to stay on track on our quest for the top.
The LIghtning lost to the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night in a game where they weren't happy with their play. Expect them to come out with extra determination to get that bad taste out of their mouths. The Wings can't come out against the Bolts like they did against the Panthers, or there may be hell to pay. They have to get puck in deep, work hard, get some greasy goals, get traffic in front of the net, play well in all 3 zones, get their feet moving, and come out with a solid 60 minute effort. I think that covers all the main points.
Tomas Jurco is expected to probably, possibly, maybe return tonight and put Danny Cleary back where he belongs (in the press box scaring children).
The Expected Lineups
Forwards
| Gustav Nyquist | Henrik Zetterberg | Justin Abdelkader |
| Darren Helm | Pavel Datsyuk | Tomas Tatar |
| Stephen Weiss | Riley Sheahan | Luke Glendening |
| Drew Miller | Joakim Andersson | Tomas Jurco |
Defensemen
| Niklas Kronwall | Jonathan Ericsson |
| Danny DeKeyser | Kyle Quincey |
| Xavier Ouellet | Brendan Smith |
Goaltenders
| Petr Mrazek (starting) |
| Thomas McCollum |
Scratches: Brian Lashoff & Danny Cleary
Injuries: Johan Franzen (headaches), Jakub Kindl (elbow), Jimmy Howard (groin) & Jonas Gustavsson (shoulder)
Forwards
| Valtteri Filppula | Steven Stamkos | Ryan Callahan |
| Ondrej Palat | Tyler Johnson | Nikita Kucherov |
| Alex Killorn | Cedric Paquette | Jonathan Drouin |
| Brendan Morrow | Brian Boyle | Brett Connolly |
Defensemen
| Andrej Sustr | Victor Hedman |
| Mark Barberio | Anton Stralman |
| Jason Garrison | Nikita Nesterov |
Goaltenders
| Ben Bishop (starting) |
| Evgeni Nabokov |
| LIGHTNING | THE MATCH-UP | RED WINGS |
| 30-15.4 (64 pts; 3rd in East) | Record | 28-11-9 (65 pts; 2nd in East) |
| 3.18 (1stin NHL) | Goals Per Game | 2.96 (8th in NHL) |
| 2.59 (15th) | Goals Against Per Game | 2.42 (8th) |
| 18.1% (16th) | Power Play % | 25.3% (2nd) |
| 81.8% (14th) | Penalty Kill % | 83.2% (8th) |
| Steven Stamkos (26 goals) | Goal Leader | Tomas Tatar (21 goals) |
| Tyler Johnson (48 points) | Points Leader | Henrik Zetterberg (45 points) |
- The Red Wings are 26-7-2-3 (W-L-T-OTL) all-time in the regular season against the Lightning./
- Last 10 Games: Tampa 6-4-0, Detroit 8-2-0/
- Mrazek's has only played 1 game against the Lightning, it was a 3-0 loss in December of 2013 and he had a .923 SV% and 2.03 GAA. In that game. Both teams were scoreless until about 4 minutes into the 3rd period, Tampa got 2 goals withing a 6 minute period, then got an empty netter to seal the deal. Gustav Nyquist has a goal waived off because the whistle blew despite the puck being loose in the crease, and Johan Franzen got a game misconduct for yelling at Radko Gudas after Gudas punched Franzen in the face.