NHL Playoffs: Red Wings vs. Lightning Game 1 recap, full highlights

Highlights from the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Game 1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings

The 2016 NHL playoffs got officially underway Wednesday evening with an exciting 3-2 win for the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference first round at Amalie Arena.

Tampa Bay wasted little time getting on the scoreboard despite playing without leading scorer Steven Stamkos due to a blood clot. Some nifty passing by 2015 playoff hero Tyler Johnson set up Nikita Kucherov for an absolute rocket of a goal at the 6:23 mark of the first period.

That score held until the 2:11 mark of the second period, despite Detroit carrying much of the play. A faceoff win set up a goal for Mike Green, which got past Lightning goalie Ben Bishop on a deflection.

Less than two minutes later, Justin Abdelkader scored on another tip-in, one that Bishop likely should have had. A couple of nice Bishop saves on a subsequent Red Wings Power Play kept the deficit at one, and Kucherov evened the game halfway through the second.

Physical and chippy play dominated the rest of the game, as penalty minutes began to pile up for both teams. The Red Wings continued to put the majority of the pressure on, but neither team could break through by the second intermission.

The action really picked up at the start of the third, with both teams missing some great chances, and Tampa Bay had a goal reversed on an offside call. An Alex Killorn tip-in from another beautiful Johnson pass gave the Lightning the lead with just under 11 minutes to go.

From that point, Tampa Bay dominated the run of play, as the first line of Kucherov, Johnson and Killorn proved to be too much to handle for Detroit. The Red Wings had a couple of great chances after pulling Jimmy Howard in the final minutes, but Bishop turned them away to seal the 3-2 win.

Three Stars

3. Ben Bishop, G, Tampa Bay. Allowed one fairly soft goal, but did a good job of turning away Detroit’s pressure with 34 saves.

2. Tyler Johnson, C, Tampa Bay. Didn’t continue his playoff scoring binge, but nifty passing set up two Lightning goals.

1. Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay. Paced Tampa Bay’s offense with two goals, the first of which will be one of the best goals of the postseason.

Highlights

"Fire it, float it, whatever. Just put the puck on net. #TBLvsDEThttps://t.co/UerR8YIt9Q— #StanleyCup Playoffs (@NHL) April 14, 2016"

"Situation Room Presented by Samsung: Hedman scores! Wait, was it offside? #CloserToTheGame @SamsungCanada https://t.co/D0dPrU19Sq— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) April 14, 2016"

Next Game

The Red Wings will try to even the series on Friday night in Game 2 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern at Amalie Arena.

For more coverage of the NHL Playoffs, make sure to check out our NHL hub page.