NHL-Highlights of Wednesday's National Hockey League games

Jan 1 (The Sports Xchange) - Highlights of Wednesday's National Hockey League games. - - - Lightning 4, Canucks 2 The Lightning, even without injured scoring star Steven Stamkos, beat the Vancouver Canucks. After a scoreless first period, the teams combined for five goals in the second where Tampa Bay's Valtteri Filppula, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov netted to give the team a 3-2 lead. Alex Killorn scored the final goal early in the third. Brad Richardson and Zac Dalpe recorded goals for Vancouver (23-12-7) in a losing effort. For Dalpe, it was his first score of the season. The victory was the sixth win in the last eight games for the Lightning (24-12-4). - - - Maple Leafs 3, Red Wings 2 (Shootout) Joffrey Lupul and Tyler Bozak scored in the shootout to give the Toronto Maple Leafs a win over the Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium in the 2014 Winter Classic. The game was watched by 105,491 fans to break a hockey attendance record and was played in a steady snowfall with a temperature of a little more than 10 degrees. Both goalies had to regularly have their water bottles replaced because the water was freezing. James Van Riemsdyk and Bozak also scored for Toronto (21-16-5) in regulation. Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 41 shots. Daniel Alfredsson scored for Detroit (18-14-10) who got a game-tying score from Justin Abdelkader with just 5:32 left in regulation. Defenseman Brendan Smith had two assists and goaltender Jimmy Howard made 24 saves. The NHL had previously contested five Winter Classic games, which are played outdoors, but none came close to matching the size of Wednesday's showcase. - - - (Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)