The Tampa Bay Lightning (5-1) knocked off the Red Wings (4-2) 3-2 on Monday night in Detroit.
The Lightning began hot in this one, striking early in the first period when Tyler Johnson scored a shorthanded goal at the 9:15 point in the first period. Nikita Kucherov scored in the sixth straight game to start the season to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead.
In the second period Detroit struck with a penalty shot on a bizarre call against Victor Hedman for hooking against Justin Abdelkader. Abdelkader's penalty shot was good and the Red Wings cut the lead to 2-1. Detroit managed to tie the game when Mike Green scored at 16:02 to go in the second period and it was game on going into the third.
NIkita Kucherov was the hero, though, scoring his seventh goal in six games at 1:47 to lift the Lightning to a 3-2 lead that would hold. Andrei Vasilevskiy converted 29 saves on 31 shots to help lead the Lightning to the win, while Jimmy Howard went 23-for-26 in net for Detroit.
Tampa Bay returns to action on Tuesday when they head to New Jersey to take on the Devils. Faceoff is set for 7:30 and you can hear it all beginning at 7 on News Radio 970 WFLA.
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TBL - SHG - Johnson - (Unassisted) - 9:15
2. TBL - PPG - Kucherov - (Hedman, Stamkos) - 10:56
2ND PERIOD
1. DET - Abdelkader - (Unassisted) - 2:30
2. DET - Green - (Abdelkader, Tatar) - 16:02
3. TBL - Kunitz - (Stralman, Paquette) - 18:09
3RD PERIOD
1. TBL - Kucherov - (Stamkos, Namestnikov) - 1:47
PENALTY SUMMARY
1ST PERIOD
1. TBL - Killorn - (Interference) - 1:53
2. TBL - Kunitz - (Cross Checking) - 8:32
3. DET - Frk - (Holding) - 10:16
4. DET - Nielsen - (Hooking) - 16:22
5. TBL - Namestnikov - (Boarding) - 20:00
2ND PERIOD
1. DET - Abdelkader - (Slashing) - 0:21
2. TBL - Hedman - (Hooking) - 2:30
3. DET - Kronwall - (Hooking) - 7:05
4. TBL - Koekkoek - (Slashing) - 11:35
5. TBL - Kucherov - (Holding) - 16:27
3RD PERIOD
1. DET - Mantha - (Cross Checking) - 9:41
2. TBL - Killorn - (Closing Hand on Puck) - 14:29
SHOTS ON GOAL
Tampa Bay - 26
Detroit - 31