Mike Babcock said he took any emotion out of choosing Petr Mrazek to start in goal over veteran Jimmy Howard in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round. Instead, Babcock simply went with the goalie he felt gave Detroit the best chance to win. Mrazek, in his first Stanley Cup Playoff game, was worthy of his coach's confidence, making 44 saves to help the Red Wings to a 3-2 win against the Lightning at Amalie Arena. Mrazek, who was 16-9-2 with a 2.38 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in 29 regular-season games, was the choice over Howard, who, when healthy, has been the starter in the playoffs each of the past five seasons. Pavel Datsyuk scored two goals for Detroit, which took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-7 series. Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead on their first shot at 9:03 of the first period. He redirected a slap shot from Kyle Quincey that caught Lightning goalie Ben Bishop leaning the wrong way. Brian Boyle tied the game at 14:31 of the first period on a shorthanded goal after he tipped a pass by Marek Zidlicky, stole the puck, and scored on the breakaway. Datsyuk scored his second goal eight seconds into the second period on a power play. He pushed the puck forward off the faceoff and sent a shot between Bishop's pads from the slot to give the Red Wings a 2-1 lead. With the Lightning on a power play, Luke Glendening gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead 5:50 into the third period. He challenged the possession at the point and stole the puck, spinning around Valtteri Filppula on the rush and slid the puck between Bishop's pads with a backhand shot. Nikita Nesterov took the puck from the point to center ice and sent a hard wrist shot past Mrazek at 8:26 to make it 3-2. The Lightning were 0-for-7 on the power play. Bishop made 11 saves on 14 shots.
Game 2 - Detroit @ Tampa Bay 1-5 - Sat, Apr 18 - Series Tied 1-1
Steven Stamkos sent a message early and Tyler Johnson made sure it didn’t fall on deaf ears. Johnson scored two goals to give Tampa Bay a 5-1 win against the Red Wings. Valtteri Filppula, Andrej Sustr and Alex Killorn scored for the Lightning, who tied the best-of-7 series 1-1. Stamkos was in the penalty box when Johnson scored his first goal at 3:05 of the first period to give the Lightning a 1-0 lead. Stamkos and Brian Boyle got into a scrum with Red Wings defensemen Danny DeKeyser and Kyle Quincey that ended with Stamkos holding Quincey in a headlock. Quincey received a double minor to give the Lightning a power play, and Johnson capitalized by scoring with a put-back over the shoulder of Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek after Nikita Nesterov hit the post with a slap shot from the point. Johnson’s second goal came at 19:22 of the second to give the Lightning a 4-0 lead; he scored on Mrazek on a breakaway. Mrazek, who made 44 saves in the Red Wings’ 3-2 win in Game 1, was pulled for Jimmy Howard after the period. Mrazek allowed four goals on 18 shots and Howard made 11 saves in relief. Tampa Bay outshot Detroit by six (30-24) after outshooting the Red Wings’ by 32 in Game 1. But the Lightning did a better job of controlling rebounds and frustrating Mrazek in Game 2. Killorn’s goal at 7:56 of the second period came off a rebound while he was fighting off Detroit forward Tomas Tatar in front of the net. He finally jammed the puck past Mrazek as Tatar put him on the ice to give the Lightning a 2-0 lead. Filppula, who gave the Lightning a 5-1 lead with a goal at 15:26 of the third, scored off a rebound of his initial shot. Filppula had an assist on Sustr’s goal at 14:48 of the second period when he fought off a check by Tomas Jurco and found Sustr steaking to the slot for the one-touch goal. It was Sustr’s first goal of the season. Tatar scored for Detroit at 5:49 of the third period when a slap shot from Quincey looked like it hit Riley Sheahan’s stick and the puck ended up with Tatar, who tipped it past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop. Bishop made 23 saves. Stamkos and Nesterov each had two assists.
Game 3 - Tampa Bay @ Detroit 0-3 - Tue, Apr 21 - Wings Lead 2-1
Mike Babcock said his Red Wings "looked like a real hockey team". Petr Mrazek made 22 saves for his first shutout in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and Detroit defeated the Lightning 3-0 at Joe Louis Arena to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-7 Eastern Conference First Round series. Pavel Datsyuk, Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening scored for Detroit and Jonathan Ericsson had two assists. This was the Red Wings' first home playoff win since the second round of the 2013 playoffs. Goalie Ben Bishop made 18 saves for Tampa Bay. Justin Abdelkader made his series debut and had an assist. He missed the first two games and the last four regular-season games because of a hand injury. Brendan Smith made his 2015 playoff debut after being a healthy scratch in the first two games. Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 1-0 lead 8:46 into the first period when Tomas Tatar's shot from the left point deflected in off his ankle when he was going to the net in the slot. Sheahan's power-play goal 6:42 into the third period made it 2-0. Sheahan sent a backhand past Bishop after taking a pass from Abdelkader. It was Sheahan's first Stanley Cup Playoff goal. Glendening scored an empty-net goal. Mrazek denied Brian Boyle on a shorthanded breakaway attempt 8:30 into the third period. Mrazek stopped Cedric Paquette's backhand from the slot with a pad save with about four minutes left in the second period. The Red Wings killed a 56-second two-man disadvantage early in the second. Detroit got some help when Tampa Bay's Tyler Johnson hit the goal post at 6:06 during the power play. Marek Zidlicky hit the goal post 1:36 into the period. Darren Helm hit the crossbar 1:08 into the game. A puck hit the goal post behind Mrazek off the leg of Drew Miller around the 10-minute mark of the first. Steven Stamkos wasn't on the ice for any of Tampa Bay’s first power play, which came midway through the first period. Stamkos took a slashing penalty against Helm after the power play ended.
Game 4 - Tampa Bay @ Detroit 3-2 OT - Thu, Apr 23 - Series Tied 2-2
The Lightning and Red Wings each can claim they "stole" a game in their Eastern Conference First Round series. Tyler Johnson scored two goals, including the overtime winner, to lead the Lightning to a come-from-behind 3-2 win at Joe Louis Arena. Johnson scored from below the left circle off a cross-crease pass from Victor Hedman on a 3-on-1 rush at 2:25 of overtime to even the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series at 2-2. Tampa Bay trailed 2-0 late in the third period, but Johnson and linemate Ondrej Palat scored 1:17 apart to send the game to overtime. Johnson's first goal of the night, at 14:34 of the third, ended Detroit's shutout streak at 119:04. The Lightning had not scored since Valtteri Filppula's goal with 4:34 left in Game 2. In Game 1, the Red Wings got 44 saves from goalie Petr Mrazek and came away with a 3-2 victory despite being outshot 46-14. A key point came when Luke Glendening left the game with a cut to his hand from a scuffle with Johnson and Hedman with 7:28 remaining in the third period. Glendening and Hedman each received a roughing minor. Glendening and linemates Drew Miller and Landon Ferraro had held the Palat-Johnson-Kucherov line in check for most of two games. Glendening got his hand stitched up, and Babcock thinks he'll be ready for Game 5. Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop made 22 saves. He allowed second-period goals to Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson. Johnson cut in off the left wing and beat Mrazek from the bottom of the left circle to pull Tampa Bay within 2-1. Palat tied it with 4:09 left when he converted Johnson's pass from behind the net. It was Palat's first goal. Mrazek made 26 saves. Nyquist opened the scoring 5:42 into the second period with his first career playoff goal when he tapped in Henrik Zetterberg's backhand cross-crease pass. Andersson made it 2-0 with 5:36 left in the second. Bishop made the save on Andersson's original shot from the high slot. After the puck popped up in the air, Bishop hit it with his stick, and then it went off the crossbar, bounced down onto the ice and trickled into the net just inside the right goal post. Tampa Bay defenseman Jason Garrison tried to clear it out of the crease behind Bishop, but missed the bouncing puck. Brendan Smith went to the Detroit dressing room 7:45 into the third period after Anton Stralman's shot hit him in the jaw/neck area. He was able to return to the game. Garrison returned to the Tampa Bay lineup after missing the final six games of the regular season and the first three games of the series because of an upper-body injury. The Lightning dressed seven defensemen, opting to scratch rookie center Vladislav Namestnikov. Tampa Bay left wing Jonathan Drouin, the third pick at the 2013 NHL Draft, made his playoff debut after being a healthy scratch for the first three games. He replaced Brenden Morrow in the lineup and on the fourth line, joining center Brian Boyle and right wing J.T. Brown.
Game 5 - Detroit @ Tampa Bay 4-0 - Sat, Apr 25 - Wings Lead 3-2
The Red Wings responded with a serious uppercut in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Lightning after getting hit with a gut punch in an overtime loss in Game 4. Now Detroit has Tampa Bay on the ropes and primed for a knockout. Petr Mrazek made 28 saves in his second shutout of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, giving the Red Wings a 4-0 win against the Lightning at Amalie Arena. Riley Sheahan and Pavel Datsyuk scored power-play goals for the Red Wings, who led Game 4 2-0 before losing 3-2 in overtime. Drew Miller’s goal at 15:46 of the second period gave the Red Wings a 2-0 lead, after Detroit held Tampa Bay without a shot for the first 9:41 of the period. Miller scored on a rebound off a shot by Luke Glendening that bounced off Lightning goalie Ben Bishop’s pad. Detroit’s plan to disrupt Tampa Bay's forwards, particularly Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson, worked to near perfection again. Stamkos rarely had open space to get down the ice on rushes and does not have a goal in the series after scoring 43 during the regular season. Mrazek made saves on the few scoring chances the Lightning had and continued to corral rebounds and limit the second and third chances that Tampa Bay had so much success with during the regular season. Sheahan scored at 19:37 of the first period on a power play. The Red Wings moved the puck around the zone and Niklas Kronwall found Sheahan on the right circle and he sent a one-timer past Bishop.
Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 3-0 lead with Detroit’s second power-play goal at 15:47 of the third period after Stamkos was given a penalty for boarding Justin Adbelkader. Danny DeKeyser scored an empty-net goal. The Lightning were 0-for-3 on the power play; Bishop made 26 saves.
Game 6 - Tampa Bay @ Detroit 5-2 - Mon, Apr 27 - Series Tied 3-3
Tyler Johnson scored two goals, the first one less than four minutes into the game, and the Lightning forced Game 7. Alex Killorn, Jason Garrison and Cedric Paquette also scored for Tampa Bay in its Game 6 victory. Nikita Kucherov assisted on each of the first three Lightning goals, and Ben Bishop made 22 saves. Tomas Tatar scored Detroit's goals, and Petr Mrazek made 23 saves. Tatar brought the Red Wings to within 3-2 at 1:39 of the third period with his second goal of the night. Off a faceoff in the Lightning zone, he got control of a bouncing puck in front of the net, turned around and put it past Bishop for his third goal of the playoffs. But Killorn scored with 5:09 left to restore Tampa Bay's two-goal lead. He picked up a loose puck, cut around Marek Zidlicky and tucked a shot under the crossbar for his second goal of the playoffs. Paquette scored a shorthanded goal into an empty net in the final minute with Mrazek off for the extra attacker. Johnson opened the scoring 3:47 into the game. He cut in off the left wing, got around Dan DeKeyser and beat Mrazek high on the short side from the bottom of the left circle. The play was set up by a long pass from Victor Hedman from his own zone to Kucherov just outside the Red Wings blue line. Kucherov then passed to Johnson, who had built up speed coming down the left side. Garrison made it 2-0 with 8:50 left in the first period. He moved in on a rush to make it a 4-on-3, took a cross-ice pass from Steven Stamkos and beat Mrazek with a wrist shot from the inside edge of the left circle. It was Garrison's first goal of the playoffs. Johnson's second goal of the night made it 3-0 at 9:09 of the second period. He put in a wrist shot from the high slot off the rush. Tatar put Detroit on the board with a power-play goal with 7:34 left in the second. He beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the right circle. Niklas Kronwall laid a heavy check on Kucherov with about a minute left in the second period just inside the Tampa Bay zone. Kronwall's shoulder and elbow made contact with Kucherov's head, but there was no penalty.
Penalties
| 1st Period | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12:23 TBL | Ondrej Palat Hooking against Danny DeKeyser | |
| 16:58 TBL | Andrej Sustr Roughing against Darren Helm | |
| 2nd Period | ||
| 02:49 DET | Niklas Kronwall Hi-sticking against Nikita Kucherov | |
| 03:33 TBL | Steven Stamkos Slashing against Petr Mrazek | |
| 03:33 TBL | Tyler Johnson Roughing against Jonathan Ericsson | |
| 03:33 DET | Jonathan Ericsson Roughing against Tyler Johnson | |
| 03:33 DET | Jonathan Ericsson Roughing against Tyler Johnson | |
| 06:02 TBL | Ryan Callahan Cross checking against Kyle Quincey | |
| 09:34 TBL | Alex Killorn Roughing against Jonathan Ericsson | |
| 11:16 TBL | Victor Hedman Slashing against Justin Abdelkader | |
| 13:17 DET | Luke Glendening Hooking against Tyler Johnson | |
| 20:00 TBL | Cedric Paquette Roughing against Justin Abdelkader | |
| 20:00 DET | Justin Abdelkader Roughing against Cedric Paquette | |
| 3rd Period | ||
| 01:58 TBL | Steven Stamkos Interference on goalkeeper against Petr Mrazek | |
| 16:34 TBL | Ryan Callahan Roughing against Drew Miller | |
| 16:34 DET | Drew Miller Roughing against Ryan Callahan | |
| 18:46 TBL | Braydon Coburn Cross checking against Henrik Zetterberg | |
When the Lightning faced the Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs last spring, Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop was injured, and so he chose to watch the games on television. After the Lightning lost Game 1 at home, Bishop chose a different spot to watch Game 2. After a Game 3 loss at Bell Centre, Bishop switched his spot for Game 4, the game that clinched the Canadiens' sweep of the Lightning. A year later, the Lightning will face the Canadiens again, but Bishop will have far more control on their fate this time. Braydon Coburn's goal at 3:58 of the third period and Bishop's 31 saves lifted the Lightning to a 2-0 win in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference First Round series against the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday at Amalie Arena. Tampa Bay and Montreal will play Game 1 on Friday at Bell Centre. A lot can be talked about concerning the Lightning, particularly how their makeup has been drastically changed by general manager Steve Yzerman. Half the Lightning had never played in a Game 7 before, but two of their more experienced players in this situation combined to score the winning goal, and each was brought in by Yzerman in the past 14 months. Coburn, acquired at the 2015 NHL Trade Deadline from the Philadelphia Flyers, took a pass through the slot from Ryan Callahan, acquired at the 2014 deadline from the New York Rangers, and one-timed a slap shot to the opposite top corner behind Mrazek. Coburn and Callahan each was playing in a Game 7 for the fifth time. It was Coburn's second Game 7 goal; he's scored one goal in 74 other playoff games. In addition to Coburn, Cooper heaped praise on the play of Anton Stralman, a free agent signing last summer. Brian Boyle was brought in to provide stability down the middle, and young players like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and even captain Steven Stamkos are a year older and wiser. This Lightning team is different than the one that got swept by the Canadiens in the first round last year, and it is eager to show it. It wasn't always clear the Lightning would come out on the right end of the series.
After Tampa Bay won Game 6 in Detroit 5-2 to avoid being eliminated, Coburn's series-winner came on the Lightning's 14th shot of the game, their seventh at even strength, after the Red Wings thoroughly dominated the opening 40 minutes but were not rewarded with a lead. Playing without suspended defenseman Niklas Kronwall and injured defenseman Marek Zidlicky, the Red Wings did not appear to be missing them through the first two periods. They outshot the Lightning 23-12, including 17-6 at even strength, and controlled long stretches of play in the offensive zone. Shot attempts at 5-on-5 in the first two periods were 32-13 in favor of the Red Wings, a disparity that reflected play quite accurately. Nowhere was this possession dominance more striking than with the Lightning's "Triplets" line of Palat, Johnson and Kucherov, who were not on the ice for a single Tampa Bay shot attempt at 5-on-5 at the second intermission. The first two periods had a very similar feel, with the Lightning scrambling to take the puck from the Red Wings to no avail, and even though the game was scoreless after 40 minutes, momentum appeared to be on Detroit's side. It all changed with one shot. After Coburn scored, the Lightning got a lift and began taking it to the Red Wings, increasing the pressure around Mrazek and having an apparent goal by Stralman at 12:46 of the third waved off when Stamkos and Detroit forward Riley Sheahan were called for offsetting minors when they got tangled up in the slot as Stralman skated by. Turns out the Lightning didn't need it, with an empty-net goal by Stralman at 18:42 sealing a trip to the second round against a familiar opponent. The Lightning won all five games against Montreal in the regular season by a combined score of 21-8. They just wanted an opportunity to make it six wins in a row, and more importantly erase the memory of that quick playoff exit a year ago. Now they have it, and they have their starting goaltender healthy and coming off his first playoff shutout.
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