TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning are going to the playoffs, and they know the set of teams they’ll have to get past to return to the Stanley Cup Final. But they only have a few games left to round into postseason form.
There was plenty to like out of the Lightning’s 4-3 loss to the Red Wings on Tuesday night at Amalie Arena. They had a terrific start and rallied, but ultimately committed too many costly turnovers that led to scoring opportunities on the other end.
The Lightning (46-22-8, 100 points) came back from a two-goal deficit, tying the score on Ross Colton’s second goal of the night 43 seconds into the third period, only to see the game slip away when defenseman Mikhail Sergachev’s turnover in the neutral zone ended up in the back of the net.
After taking the puck from Sergachev, Jakub Vrana scored on a breakaway at the 5:09 mark of the period. Two Sergachev turnovers led to Detroit goals Tuesday night.
Lightning captain Steven Stamkos tied Marty St. Louis for the most career points (953) in franchise history while setting up Colton’s final goal. Parked behind the goal line in the final period, Stamkos found Colton in the slot for a wrister that beat Detroit goaltender Thomas Greiss.
The game marked Andrei Vasilevskiy’s first career loss to the Red Wings. Vasilevskiy, who made 28 saves, entered the night 13-0-0 against Detroit.
The Lightning’s loss, combined with Toronto’s win over Philadelphia, dropped Tampa Bay to eight points back of the Maple Leafs for second place in the Atlantic Division ahead of the teams’ meeting Thursday at Amalie Arena.
