Red Wings 2, Lightning 1: Lyon, Sprong Carry Detroit to Massive Atlantic Win over Vasilevskiy, Lightning
28 saves from Alex Lyon, a breakaway goal from Daniel Sprong, and the good feeling generated by a Lions' victory hours before propelled the Red Wings to a 2-1 win over Atlantic rivals Tampa Bay
Mandatory Credit: Brian Bradshaw Sevald-USA TODAY Sports - Red Wings 2, Lightning 1: Lyon, Sprong Carry Detroit to Massive Atlantic Win over Vasilevskiy, LightningDetroit—On Sunday night, Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy was in peak form—Vezina form, Stanley Cup form, Conn Smythe form—stopping pucks with a dexterity that seemed to defy physics. But when the final horn sounded at Little Caesars Arena, it was the Detroit Red Wings who'd claimed two points and a 2-1 result.
The decisive goal came from Daniel Sprong, who leaned on a snippet of advice from injured teammate Patrick Kane, to do what seemed impossible for most of the night and slip a puck past Vasilevskiy.
"He was telling me all morning low glove, low glove, so I told him after I scored, I was gonna give him a point," Sprong said of Kane, who somehow managed to contribute offense for Detroit even out of the lineup.
J.T. Compher deflected a pass with his skate that sprung Sprong for a breakaway, and the Amsterdam-born winger did what he does best: raced north in a straight line and wired a shot. "I thought about passing it, but Twitter's been ripping me apart for not shooting as much lately, so I probably took the right decision and shot it," he quipped.
"When he gets looks, he makes things happen," offered Derek Lalonde, when asked about Sprong. "Tight game like this, you need someone to make a play, and it was him tonight."
The goal came 20 minutes and 13 seconds of game action after Tampa's Victor Hedman opened the scoring for the night, and in that duration, the Red Wings inverted the game's tone and tenor.
In the early going, the Lightning had all of the puck and repeated spells of extended possession in the offensive zone (though they struggled to create quality chances). From Hedman's goal through the end of the second period, the Red Wings were dominant.
They limited Tampa to 10 shots over the first two periods, while putting up 19 of their own in the second period alone. Raymond managed to sneak a shot through Vasilevskiy late in the first to tie the game (a rare gift from the goaltender in an otherwise imperious performance). Detroit should have seen its way two or three goals clear by the end of the second, but Vasilevskiy refused to cooperate.
If goaltending was the biggest reason Detroit failed to build a bigger cushion over the game's first 40 minutes, it was also goaltending that ensured that the Red Wings got their one-goal margin over the finish line despite a ferocious third-period surge from the visitors.
In the third period, Alex Lyon faced 19 shots and stopped them all, bringing his total for the evening to 28 saves.
He had to survive two full power plays, as well as three minutes and one second with Vasilevskiy on the bench and an extra attacker on the ice that became 6-on-4 for the game's final 12 seconds after a late Jeff Petry delay of game minor. "Lyon was excellent," said Lalonde. "Any time you match the performance for Vasilevskiy when he was playing like he was tonight—huge on him."
For the Red Wings, the victory represented a massive two points in the crowded Atlantic Division playoff race. For the city of Detroit, it was the cherry on top of an afternoon and evening that won't soon be forgotten.
Not an hour before puck drop, just a few blocks down Woodward Avenue, the Detroit Lions defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to secure passage to the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991 (establishing victories over Tampa as a motif for the day).
The ensuing merriment spilled into the seats of Little Caesars Arena, which was awash in blue for a change, not the royal variety sported by the visiting Lighting but the Honolulu hue of the beloved Lions. "Our building was buzzing to start, and [the fans] get excited about our games, but this Sunday night game, I don't know if we generated the buzz," said Lalonde. "It might've had a little bit to do with the Lions."
Whether it was the crowd, Sprong, Lyon, or the Lions who proved the decisive factor doesn't matter in accounting for the end product of the city's night cap: two hard-earned and much-needed points in the standings.
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