Detroit Red Wings wrap up Sunday sweep of Tampa Bay with 2-1 victory at LCA
All the blue at Little Caesars Arena Sunday wasn't for the Detroit Red Wings' opponent.
The Detroit Lions' victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Ford Field was only about an hour old when, across Woodward Avenue, the Wings hosted the Tampa Bay Lightning in a divisional rivalry. Fans clad in Honolulu Blue added a new shade to the usual red-heavy stands, and the Wings delivered a doubleheader sweep with a 2-1 victory.
"That was very cool," coach Derek Lalonde said shortly after his hometown Buffalo Bills exited the NFL playoffs with a 27-24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. "All my energy is channeled to one team now.
"I coach in pro sports. There's very few times you hit it and you engage an entire city. I get the fact it's been so long for them, but the way they've done it and the energy and how authentic the group is — our building was buzzing at the start. Sunday night game, I don't know if we generated the buzz — I think it had a little bit to do with the Lions win. It was pretty cool, and it's going to be really neat to watch them next weekend."
Detroit (24-17-5) and Tampa Bay, along with the Toronto Maple Leafs, are neck-and-neck-and-neck in the standings, regularly leapfrogging one another for third place in the Atlantic and the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference.
The Wings came into the night off a loss at the end of a three-game road trip, and they emphasized not letting that grow.
"It's a very, very dangerous team," goaltender Alex Lyon said after making 27 saves. "I think we played really well, maybe one of the more complete games we've played all season. It's really difficult to come off a road trip, emotionally and physically. The way everyone responded was awesome.
"You just can't let those little snowballs start rolling down hill. We nipped it in the bud."
Lucas Raymond scored a tying goal and Daniel Sprong a go-ahead one as the Wings pounded pucks at Andrei Vasilevskiy, racking up 31 in the first two periods alone, while Lyon only saw 10 in that span. He saw 12 in the first 8 minutes alone of the third period, though.
"Lyon was excellent," Lalonde said. "Anytime you kind of match a performance from Vasilevskiy, huge on him. We needed him in the third. He stood tall for us."
SPRONG SPRINGS: Why Daniel Sprong has been a 'remarkable fit' for Detroit Red Wings
Patrick Kane (lower body) missed a third straight game and Ben Chiarot was unavailable after aggravating an upper-body injury in Friday's game.
That's more like it
The Wings were coming off a loss Friday at Carolina, in which they managed to register just 12 shots on net the entire 60 minutes. The Bolts — who rode their backup goaltender to a victory Saturday afternoon in Buffalo, saving Vasilevskiy for the Wings — had better jump early, as only Sprong managed to test him the first five minutes. Tampa grabbed a lead midway through the period when Victor Hedman passed the puck to Nikita Kucherov just inside Detroit's zone, and then took up position in the right circle to snap a shot off a pass from Kucherov. The Wings got going, though, and had 12 shots on Vasilevskiy by the end of the period.
"I loved our energy, loved our approach throughout," Lalonde said. "Those long road trips, you're always a little flat when you come off those road trips. Just really impressed with the guys, with the effort. It's a really team win."
Behind you
Raymond scored with 1:31 left in the first period, on a goal similar to the one Klim Kostin scored at Carolina. On Friday, it was Antti Raanta whipping around and throwing himself towards the puck as it slid across the goal line after he flubbed the attempt to catch it. Vasilevskiy likewise got a piece of Raymond's shot but couldn't corral the puck, instead swatting it in as he turned around and dove for the puck just as it slid into the net and made for a tie game.
Sprung Sprong
Sprong made it 2-1 midway through the second period when he took a pass from J.T. Compher and strode down the middle and scored his 12th goal of the season. Sprong said Kane had given him advice on beating Vasilevskiy: "He's telling me all morning, 'low glove, low glove,' so I told him after I scored I was going to give him a point." That was at 8:58. At 10:42, officials called the first penalty of the game, sending Austin Watson off for high-sticking Shayne Gostisbehere. Sprong created a 10-second two-man advantage when his attempt at another scoring chance prompted Luke Glendening to haul down Sprong and earn a whistle. During their 3:40 minutes of consecutive power play time, the Wings registered eight shots on net.
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.
Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Red Wings sneak past Tampa Bay Lightning, 2-1
