Lightning Keep Detroit Chasing the Puck at Amalie
Tampa Bay beat Detroit 4-2, and the scoreline undersold how one-sided the night was. The Lightning had the puck going toward the Red Wings' net far more often than the other way, and the game was played on their terms.
The shot-attempt count tells it: Tampa Bay threw 71 attempts at the net to Detroit's 43, a 62.3% share of all attempts. Shots on goal were closer, 27 to 21, so Detroit did get pucks through. The difference was in how often Tampa came at them, and the quality matched the volume. The Lightning's chances were worth 4.16 expected goals (how many goals those looks would usually produce) against 2.49 for Detroit.
Detroit spent its night reacting, finishing with 37 hits and 23 blocked shots, and it still couldn't stop the pressure. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 of 21, including 5 of 6 high-danger shots.
The Lightning could have had more. Charle-Edouard D'Astous, Jeffrey Viel and Max Crozier all rang iron. Ryan McDonagh and Anthony Cirelli each scored, with Cirelli putting 5 shots on net.
The win keeps Tampa unbeaten at home at 7-0-0.
