Puck drops just after 2:00pm ET today....
via Brian Hunter of NHL.com,
TV: SUN, FS-D
Season series: The Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to complete a four-game season sweep of the Detroit Red Wings. Ryan Callahan had the only goal of the shootout the last time they met at Joe Louis Arena. Steven Stamkos has four goals to lead all scorers. Ben Bishop has a 1.62 goals-against average and .937 save percentage in three starts.
Lightning team scope: Forward Brenden Morrow, who didn't play in a 3-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday because of an upper-body injury, practiced Friday in a regular jersey. Morrow said he was feeling better and might be able to play, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The Lightning worked on their power play, using forward Brian Boyle in front of the net on the first unit with Stamkos, Valtteri Filppula, Alex Killorn and Anton Stralman. Boyle scored his 15th goal of the season against the Predators. Despite leading the NHL in offense at 3.23 goals per game, the Lightning had the 19th-ranked power play entering games Friday at 18.1 percent. The Lightning are on the verge of clinching a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
Red Wings team scope: This is the finale of a four-game road trip for Detroit, which has given up 11 goals in losing consecutive games to the Arizona Coyotes and San Jose Sharks, teams outside of the playoffs in the Western Conference. Forward Riley Sheahan, who is seventh on the Red Wings in scoring with 34 points, is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Goalie Petr Mrazek, who relieved Jimmy Howard after the first period of the 6-4 loss Thursday to the Sharks, will start, according to MLive.com. Forward Pavel Datsyuk skated with Tomas Tatar and Darren Helm during line rushes Friday, but coach Mike Babcock wasn't sure if Datsyuk would play. He has missed the past five games with a lower-body injury.
TEAM STATS
|
GP |
RECORD |
HOME |
ROAD |
L10 |
G/GP |
GA/GP |
PP% |
PK% |
PIM/GP |
S/GP |
SA/GP |
FO% |
|---|
 |
75 |
46-22-7 |
30-8-1 |
16-14-6 |
7-2-1 |
3.23 |
2.52 |
18.1 |
83.2 |
9.9 |
29.5 |
27.7 |
49.7 |
 |
73 |
39-22-12 |
20-8-8 |
19-14-4 |
3-6-1 |
2.86 |
2.63 |
24.5 |
81.0 |
8.7 |
30.0 |
28.3 |
52.0 |
The notes are a little shorter today....
DETROIT RED WINGS
THE MATCHUP
- Today marks the 41st all-time meeting between DET and TB
- Today marks the 4th of 4 meetings this season between DET and TB, 2nd of 2 in DET
- DET’s all-time record vs. TB: 26-9-2-3
- DET’s all-time home record vs. TB: 14-2-1-2
- DET picked up a point in the 1st meeting of the season series, 4-3 in a shootout on 11/9 (Franzen, Helm and Nyquist scored for DET; Stamkos [2] and Johnson scored for TB, Carle scored SO winner)
- TB also won the last two meetings of the season 5-1 on 1/29 in TB (Helm scored for DET; Paquette [3], Stamkos and Barberio scored for TB) and 3-1 on 3/20 in TB (Tatar scored for DET; Stralman, Killorn and Stamkos for TB)
- Pavel Datsyuk has 15 points (7-8-15) in 12 games vs. TB
- Erik Cole has 42 points (17-25-42) in 54 games vs. TB
- Stephen Weiss has 34 points (11-23-34) in 52 games vs. TB
- Drew Miller was briefly a member of TB in 2009-10, skating in 14 games before DET claimed him off waivers on 11/11/09
- TB’s top career scorers vs. DET: Brenden Morrow (12-9-21 in 43 GP), Steve Stamkos (6-1-7 in 9 GP) and Matthew Carle (0-6-6 in 19 GP)
- TB F Valtteri Filppula had 251 points (100-151-251) in 483 games with DET from 2005-13
- TB F Vladislav Namestnikov is the nephew of former Red Wing Slava Kozlov
- TB head coach Jon Cooper is a former head coach for Lansing Catholic Central, the Jr. B Metro Jets and Honeybaked Midget Major
- DET is 3-4-3 vs. TB since Steve Yzerman took over as the team’s general manager in May 2010
- 15 players in today’s game participated in the 2013 AHL Calder Cup Finals: Andersson, DeKeyser, Glendening, Jurco, Mrazek, Nyquist, Sheahan and Tatar for Grand Rapids; Barberio, Brown, Johnson, Namestnikov, Palat, Paquette and Sustr for Syracuse. The Griffins won the series 4-2.
TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
TONIGHT'S MATCHUP
The Lightning begin a five-game road trip this afternoon in Detroit with a tilt against the Red Wings...The Bolts went 4-2-0 during their six game homestand from March 14-26...The Bolts lost for only their fifth time at Amalie Arena since Dec. 9 vs. Washington on Thursday night...The Lightning have collected points in each of their past two road contests (1-0-1) and will be playing just their fourth road game this month...Tonight's game is the fourth and final meeting between the Red Wings and Lightning this season...The Bolts own a record of 3-0-0 against Detroit this season, including a 3-1 victory over the Red Wings eight days ago at Amalie Arena...The Lightning went just 1-12-0 with one tie in the Motor City during their first 21 seasons in the League, but since then have gone 3-1 0 over their past four visits to Joe Louis Arena...Steven Stamkos has recorded four goals in three games this season against Detroit.
TONIGHT'S STORYLINES
The Bolts can set a new franchise record for wins in a season this afternoon, after tying their best mark of 46 (2013-14, 2010-11 & 2003-04) on Tuesday night against Florida...The Lightning have points in each of their past eight games against division opponents (7- 0-1)...The Bolts own a record of 18-3-3 against Atlantic Division opponents this season...The Lightning enter tonight's game with points in nine of their past 11 contests (8-2-1), while the Red Wings have dropped four of their past five outings...The Lightning enter tonight's game as the League's highest scoring team with 242 goals, with the next closest team (Dallas) 14 goals behind...Tampa Bay ranks first in the NHL for regulation/OT victories this season with 44...The Lightning's +50 goal differential ranks second overall in the League...Tampa Bay has registered 94 third period tallies, ranking first in the League...Four Lightning players occupy the Top-6 overall spots for plus/minus in the NHL (Johnson, Kucherov, Palat & Garrison).
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