TAMPA - The Detroit Red Wings put up a solid fight but ultimately fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-1, marking their second consecutive regulation loss for the first time since late November.
Red Wings head coach Todd McLellan reflected on the performance, noting, “It was a pretty damn good effort by our group. If we could take a goal back, it would be their power-play goal.
We misplayed that poorly, but we checked for our chances. We kept the game close.
Had to open it up a little bit right near the end of the game and they capitalized, but created enough opportunities to find probably more than one goal.”
John Gibson stood tall in net for Detroit, finishing with a solid number of saves, while Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy turned aside 24 shots, demonstrating why he’s considered one of the best in the world.
J.T. Compher shared his thoughts, saying, “I still think that we created enough.
It wasn’t super pretty the whole time, but that’s a team that blocks shots really well. And when you get it past their blocks, they have one of the best goalies in the world if not the best goalie in the world.
They make it hard to score. The recipe has been going for years and years in this building and against them, you need to bear down and find a way to get the puck in the net.”
The opening period saw both teams locked in a defensive battle, with the Lightning’s forecheck keeping the Red Wings on their toes. Despite earning a power play late in the first, Detroit couldn’t capitalize.
The second period kicked off with Jake Guentzel breaking the deadlock for Tampa Bay on a carry-over power play, slipping one through Gibson’s five-hole. Detroit responded with a series of strong offensive pushes but couldn’t solve Vasilevskiy. A potential goal was waved off after Corey Perry collided with Gibson.
Alex DeBrincat emphasized the need to capitalize on chances, stating, “We had our chances. We just have to get guys to the net, bear down in front and put some in the net.
Obviously, they have a world-class goalie over there but we got to find a way to put it in. It wasn’t going to be pretty tonight.
We knew that. We got a lot of pucks to the net.”
The third period saw Gage Goncalves extend Tampa Bay’s lead to 2-0, but Compher redirected a shot from Alex DeBrincat to cut the deficit to 2-1, spoiling Vasilevskiy’s shutout bid. Patrick Kane earned the secondary assist on Compher’s ninth goal of the season.
Coach McLellan noted the importance of players stepping up, saying, “J.T. now broke through in that area, so that's a good thing...Guys have to step up. It's just the way it is.”
Despite the loss, the Red Wings showed resilience and determination, traits they’ll need as they push forward in the season.