Lightning look to cure recent ills against Red Wings (Dec 20, 2016)
TAMPA, Fla. -- Not much has gone right for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the last 11 games, and their penalty kill is among the biggest problems.
In going 2-7-2 in the last 11 games, the Lightning are giving up goals on 34 percent of opponents' power plays, with 14 goals in all, including both goals in a shootout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
"Killing penalties has cost us points down the stretch," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said of his team's recent struggles. "That's an area you have to be good at."
The Lightning (15-14-3) are depleted by injuries, and that includes forward Ryan Callahan, out the last nine games with a hip injury and a key part of Tampa Bay's penalty kill unit.
What could help that short-handed slump for the Lightning is a Tuesday home game with the Detroit Red Wings (14-14-4), who rank 29th in power-play percentage, ahead of only the New York Islanders by converting only 13 percent of their opportunities.
The Lightning continue to count on their power play as a strength, with 26 power-play goals this season, second only to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Tampa Bay was supposed to be getting Detroit on the tail end of a back-to-back, but Monday night's game at the Carolina Hurricanes was postponed after a compressor in PNC Arena's ice-freezing machine blew out.
Detroit had to wait two hours as the game was initially delayed with hopes of starting before the 9:30 deadline for a game the night before a team plays another NHL game, but at about 8:45, the game was called. It will be rescheduled.
Detroit had bounced back nicely Saturday with a 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks, ending a four-game losing streak in which they had scored a total of three goals. They're 1-3-1 in their last five, so the Lightning also present them with a chance to get back on track, even on the road.
Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg said players had a good sense the game might not be played because of ice conditions but waited until they had official word. They'll arrive in Tampa earlier than they would after a normal game, and they'll have a morning skate instead of an optional skate now as a result.
"A little different," Zetterberg said. "We prepared for it as a normal game. ... We just killed some time. We had a feeling pretty early that it wouldn't be a game. ... The biggest concern was the safety of the players."
Tampa Bay-Detroit is a rematch of last year's opening-round playoff series that the Lightning won in five games. Tampa Bay beat Detroit 6-4 in Tampa in the season opener, then 4-3 in Detroit.
After Tuesday's game, the teams don't meet again until doing so twice in seven days in late March.
