Christian Post Report – Detroit Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard (L) is congratulated by teammate Jakub Kindl after the Red Wings defeated the Chicago Blackhawks during Game 2 of their NHL Western Conference semi-final playoff hockey game in Chicago, Illinois, May 18, 2013.
With the series tied at 1-1, the scene shifts to the Joe Louis Arena where the Detroit Red Wings host the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round of the NHL Eastern Conference playoffs. The match is on April 21, 2015 at 7 p.m. ET.
Detroit surprisingly won the first game behind an impressive performance from veteran Pavel Datsyuk. He scored early in the first period and in only eight seconds at the start of the second.
Detroit were extremely efficient during the match as they scored three goals despite only taking 14 shots on goal.
Tampa Bay had 46 shots on goal, but only beat Petr Mrazek twice as Detroit’s defense stood tall in the surprise victory.
With that victory, Detroit took home advantage despite many expecting Tampa Bay to dominate early in the series.
However, the hosts were able to regroup and rebound in Game 2.
Needing to adjust in order to get back in the series, Tampa Bay scored early behind a power-play goal from Tyler Johnson.
From there, they would not let go of the throttle as they went on to score three big goals in the second period with the goals coming from Alex Killorn, Andrej Sustr and Johnson.
Detroit were able to pull one back from a goal by Tomas Tatar in the 46th minute, but it was easily the night for the Lightning as things were wrapped up by Valtteri Filppula’s goal in the 56th.
Much like the first game, Tampa Bay dominated the shots, leading 30-24 after 60 minutes and this time they made sure that they were able to convert the attempts to goals. Detroit even changed goalkeepers but made no difference as Mrazek allowed four goals, while veteran Jimmy Howard saved 11 of 12 attempts.
As the game now goes to Michigan, expect Detroit to try and use the home crowd to their advantage, while Tampa Bay will look to inflict the same damage they did in Game 2.
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Source : Christian Post