Tampa Bay Lightning

Flash Points: Another shutout in Detroit puts Lightning in bind

Published Apr. 21, 2015 9:45 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

Another trip to Detroit, another shutout.

All of it leads to more Motor City frustration.

The Detroit Red Wings beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0 on Tuesday night at Joe Louis Arena to snatch a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinals series. It marked the second consecutive occasion that the Lightning were held without a goal when playing in Detroit, following a 4-0 victory by the Red Wings on March 28 to close the regular-season series between the teams.

On Tuesday, the Red Wings gained momentum early with a goal on a deflection by center Pavel Datsyuk 8:46 into the first period. Then center Riley Sheahan added another 6:42 into the third period, before center Luke Glendening produced an empty-net goal with 48.6 seconds left.

Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek came up big with 22 saves. It was a solid recovery for him after the Lightning routed Detroit 5-1 in Game 2 on Saturday at Amalie Arena.

Meanwhile, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop faced 20 shots Tuesday.

"Let's be honest: These are two good hockey teams," Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said on the FOX Sports Florida postgame show. "They're a 100-point team, so you look at how they played ‘D' all year, and that's pretty much how they survived. And you've got to will some goals. Sometimes, they're not going to be bang-bang, tic-tac-toe plays. You've got to will some in the net, and we couldn't buy one tonight. So we're going to have to find a way to win Game 4."

The result places the Lightning in a pressure situation for that Game 4 on Thursday. A loss in two days won't eliminate Tampa Bay, but a 3-1 hole in the series would be a significant deficit to overcome.

The Lightning had reason to be confident after controlling most of the first two games of this series. But after Tuesday, momentum has shifted to the Red Wings.

"They did a good job," Lightning defenseman Braydon Coburn said on the FOX Sports Florida postgame show. "They played a clean game, and we've got some things to clean up. We've got to put some pucks on the net as well."

THE TURNING POINT

Sheahan's goal in the third period was a backbreaker for the Lightning. That score broke open an evenly played game.

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER

Again, Mrazek came up big for the Red Wings. He has been strong in two of the three games in this series.

STAT OF THE GAME

It's impossible to win when you can't score. The Lightning have been shut out just twice this season, both times against the Red Wings.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lightning face the Red Wings in Game 4 at 7 p.m. Thursday at Joe Louis Arena.

You can follow Andrew Astleford on Twitter @aastleford or email him at aastleford@gmail.com.

share

Get more from Tampa Bay Lightning Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Tampa Bay Lightning