Red Wings vs. Lightning recap: What you need to know about Game 3
Everything you need to know about the Detroit Red Wings' 3-0 victory of the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Playoff series.
By
Adam Gretz
•
2 min read
Every night during the Stanley Cup playoffs, Eye On Hockey writers Adam Gretz and Chris Peters will bring you up to speed everything you need to know about all of the action around the NHL. Here's what you need to know about Red Wings vs. Lightning Game 3
Detroit Red Wings vs. Tampa Bay Lightning, Game 3
Red Wings 3, Lightning 0 | Red Wings lead series 2-1 | Game 4 Thursday
Game 3 in a nutshell: Petr Mrazek recorded his first career postseason shutout by stopping all 22 shots he faced in Detroit's 3-0 Game 3 win to lead his team to a 2-1 lead in their first round series against the Tampa Bay Lightning. It might have been the most complete game the Red Wings have played so far. Their first win was pretty much the result of Mrazek stealing it and Ben Bishop giving it away at the other end of the ice. This was just a rock-solid performance from top-to-bottom as they shut down Tampa Bay's attack and received some timely goals from one of their top players (Pavel Datsyuk) and a couple of their younger players (Riley Sheahan and Luke Glendening).
Turning point: With a 1-0 lead early in the second period, the Red Wings had to kill off an extended 5-on-3 power play for the Lightning after Glendenning was sent off for interference and Danny Dekeyser was penalized for delay of game. Not only did the Red Wings kill the entire two-man advantage, they did not allow Tampa Bay to even get a shot on goal.
Three things we learned
1. Starting Petr Mrazek was a surprising move in this series, but it's impossible to argue with the results. He has already stolen one game in this series for the Red Wings and on Tuesday night he stopped all 22 shots he faced, including a late game shorthanded breakaway on Brian Boyle with the game still very much in doubt.
2. Pavel Datsyuk is still the man for Detroit. He scored his second goal of the series in the first period while the Red Wings attempted 12 of the 18 shot attempts that were taken with him on the ice during his 15 minutes of even-strength ice time, most of which came against Steven Stamkos. That's pretty much what he does best. Shut down the other team's best player, score goals.
3. Tampa Bay's special teams are a major problem so far in this series. After their 0-for-5 night on the power play on Tuesday, including the aforementioned extended two-man advantage, they are just 2-for-15 in the series with the man advantage and have given up one power play goal in each of their two losses. Detroit's power play is one of the best in the NHL and the one clear advantage they have on paper in this series. If the Lightning keep giving them opportunities, and fail to capitalize on their own, this series might end up having a very surprising result.
GIF of the night: Don't make Mike Babcock angry.
