Cam Talbot made 28 saves and the host Detroit Red Wings handed the Tampa Bay Lightning their first shutout loss of the season, 2-0, on Saturday.
Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen scored the goals as the Wings avenged a 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay a week earlier.
Nikita Kucherov’s point streak ended at 11 games; he had six goals and 13 assists during that span.
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves as the Lightning were blanked for the first time since a 5-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 14, 2023.
Detroit outshot Tampa Bay 13-7 in the first period, but neither side broke through.
The Red Wings had numerous quality scoring chances but couldn’t get the puck past Vasilevskiy. The Lightning also came close a few times. Anthony Cirelli had a wide-open net with Talbot out of position, but his attempt went wide. Later in the period, Kucherov banged a shot off the goal post.
Kasper was called for the game’s first penalty, hooking Kucherov. Moments after getting out of the box, he redirected a J.T. Compher shot off the goal post and into the net at 9:55 of the second period. Christian Fischer picked up the second assist.
Detroit was awarded its first power play a few minutes later when Emil Lilleberg was whistled for interference, but Vasilevskiy kept the score 1-0 by making four saves during those two minutes.
A scrum developed at the end of the period, with Tampa Bay receiving two penalties and Detroit getting one. That gave the Red Wings a power play to open the third period, but they failed to get a shot on goal.
Tampa Bay was penalized again at 5:16 of the period for having too many men on the ice. The Red Wings pressured Vasilevskiy this time but still couldn’t add to their lead.
The Lightning got a power play midway through the period when Simon Edvinsson was called for roughing. Talbot stopped two Kucherov shots to keep Detroit on top.
Rasmussen clinched the win with an empty-netter.
–Field Level Media
