Red Wings take Game 5 with 4-0 victory over Lightning

By @SKubus – 

If Detroit learned anything from Game 4, it’s that 2-0 leads are not to be relied on.

And in Game 4 Saturday evening, the Red Wings rebounded with a sound 4-0 victory to take a 3-2 series lead heading back to Detroit for Monday’s Game 6.

Riley Sheahan, Drew Miller, Pavel Datsyuk and Danny DeKeyser each scored for Detroit, while Petr Mrazek recorded his second shutout of the series. He is the only netminder to shut out Tampa Bay since 2013 and he has done it three times this season now.

Luke Glendening started the game for Detroit amidst slight uncertainty about his status for Game 5.

Detroit came out slow in the first frame, with Tampa Bay seemingly carrying over their momentum from Game 4. It appeared as if the Lightning were poised to strike first.

But late in the opening period, Detroit went on the man-advantage with Ondrej Palat in the penalty box. And just seconds before the first 20 minutes went in the books, a gorgeous passing play allowed Sheahan to blast home a one-timer from the right circle past Bishop.

The Red Wings used the momentum from the late first-period Sheahan goal to continue asserting their dominance in the middle period. Detroit mustered up several quality scoring chances and outshot Tampa Bay, 8-5.

Late in the second stanza, Glendening came down the right side and threw a puck low on net. The rebound went right to Miller and he tapped it in to make it a 2-0 lead with 4:14 remaining in the period.

With the exception of a lone power play, the Lightning didn’t generate much of anything in the first 16 minutes of the third period. The Red Wings, meanwhile, created a number of quality chances, but Bishop either held strong or the puck just bounced off Detroit sticks.

Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and defenseman Jason Garrison sandwiched Justin Abdelkader hard into the boards late in the game. Abdelkader was able to skate off on his own, but was slow getting to his feet.

But with 4:13 to play and Stamkos in the sin bin, Datsyuk took a pass in between the circles up high and popped home a goal that made it 3-0, a wrister that beat a screened Bishop high on the far side.

DeKeyser added an empty-better to cap off the win and send the series back to Detroit with a 3-2 Red Wings’ lead.