Red Wings Fight Back, But Fall Just Short Against Lightning In 4-2 Loss

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Playing their second game in just over 24 hours against a Sunshine State-based divisional rival, the Detroit Red Wings looked largely listless for the first portion of the contest before mounting a comeback effort.

Unfortunately, the comeback wasn't meant to be.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, mired in a controversy of their own after the shocking trade request of superstar forward Nikita Kucherov, held off the Red Wings with a 4-2 win at Benchmark International Arena. 

With the setback, the Red Wings fell to 7-6-3 through the first 16 games of the 2026-27 campaign. And making matters more complicated was the fact that goaltender John Gibson departed the contest after the first period; he did not return. 

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The aforementioned Kucherov picked up a pair of assist in the opening 20 minutes alone, both on goals from Brayden Point, giving the Lightning a two-goal cushion. That lead was increased to 3-0 after a tally from Anthony Cirelli near the midway point of the second period. 

At that point, the Red Wings began battling back. Forward Lucas Raymond stayed hot by scoring his sixth goal of the season just under two minutes later, followed by an early third period power play tally from J.T. Compher, cutting the deficit to a single goal. 

While Daniil Tarasov on the bench for an extra attacker, Detroit pressed heavily for the equalizer, but fell just short; defenseman Ryan McDonaugh sealed the win with an empty net goal in the waning seconds of regulation.

Before departing, Gibson stopped 11 of the 13 shots he faced; in relief, Tarasov stopped 12 of 13 shots. Meanwhile, Andrei Vasilevskiy denied 19 of 21 attempts. 

The Red Wings return home to Little Caesars Arena to host the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday evening. 

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