TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning tilted the rink Thursday in the playoff opener against the Detroit Red Wings, dominating them territorially and outshooting them by a wide margin. But the Red Wings had the right counterweights with Petr Mrazek and Pavel Datsyuk.
Mrazek made 44 saves in his Stanley Cup playoff debut and Datsyuk scored a pair of goals as the Red Wings defeated the Lightning 3-2 at Amalie Arena. The Lightning outshot the Red Wings 46-14. Detroit played defense most of the night and had trouble getting out of its zone. Mrazek was stellar, outplaying Ben Bishop in a battle of goalies who had never appeared in a postseason game.
Luke Glendening scored what proved to be the game-winning goal while shorthanded at 5:50 of the third period. He raced down the ice, spun around in the slot to avoid Valtteri Filppula and whipped a backhand shot though Bishop’s pads. He scores most of his goals on the backhand.
The penalty-prone Red Wings killed all seven Lightning power plays, including four in the third period, though the final one lasted only 12 seconds.
Game 2 is Saturday afternoon at Amalie Arena (3 p.m., NBC). MORE
