National Hockey League
Detroit 2, Tampa Bay 1
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Where: Joe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Referees: Francis Charron, Ghislain Hebert
Linesmen: David Brisebois, Steve Miller
Attendance: 20027

DETROIT -- The Detroit Red Wings want to rely on hard work, not their skill.

Forward Dylan Larkin's goal early in the third period broke a tie and gave the Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Joe Louis Arena on Tuesday night.

The Red Wings have won two in a row, their first winning streak since the first three games of the season and it was Detroit's first win at home since defeating the Lightning 3-1, on Oct. 13.

"I think it's just all about how we play. How hard we play we'll be successful," said Larkin, a 19-year-old rookie. "If we try and play a skilled game, on the outside, we don't be successful so it's all on us. It's just how we show up every game."

Center Riley Sheahan also scored for Detroit while goaltender Jimmy Howard made 29 saves.

"For the team, that was huge. Another step in the right direction from Ottawa (a 5-3 win) the other night," Howard said. "To come in here and play hard against a very high-octane offense and keep them to just one goal, it says we played a pretty complete game."

Right winger Nikita Kucherov scored for Tampa Bay and goalie Ben Bishop made 27 saves.

"Bottom line you need to score one more goal or get one more save," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.

Larkin gave the Red Wings a 2-1 lead 5:54 into the third period. He cut in off the right wing, after a give and go with left winger Justin Abdelkader, and stuffed the puck past Bishop.

"It was a good play by (defenseman Dan DeKeyser) to get it out," Larkin said. "Just tried to go wide and I saw (Abdelkader) coming and he gave it back to me so I tried to take it to the net hard and it went in."

Bishop thought he should have stopped it.

"It snuck between my arm and my body. Was kind of in between," he said.

The play came after Tampa Bay left winger Ondrej Palat tripped over Howard and knocked the Detroit net off its moorings, but play continued. It was Larkin's fourth goal.

"He's great. He's such a great kid. He just uses his speed to his advantage, flying," Howard said. "I don't think a lot of goaltenders yet have realized how deceptive of a shot he actually has. He can get it off quick, he can get it off in small areas and he's pretty accurate with it. He's fun to watch and he's fun to go against in practice, too."

Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman hit the goal post with 1:02 left.

Kucherov hit the crossbar -- off Howard's shoulder -- with 12:18 left. A shot also deflected off Lightning left winger Alex Killorn and off the goal post with a little less than 11 minutes left.

"With goal posts, there nothing you can do. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don't," Killorn said.

Sheahan opened the scoring 2:02 into the second period when he beat Bishop with a wrist shot from the high slot off the rush after knocking down a tip pass from left winger Tomas Tatar with his glove in the neutral zone. It was Sheahan's second goal and first in eight games.

Kucherov tied it with a 5-on-3 power-play goal with 4:02 left in the second period. He put in a loose puck from the bottom of the right circle for his fourth goal.

NOTES: Detroit was without C Pavel Datsyuk (ankle), LW Johan Franzen (concussion-like symptoms), C Brad Richards (back), D Mike Green (shoulder) and D Kyle Quincey (concussion protocol). ... Tampa Bay was missing LW Jonathan Drouin (lower body) and C Cedric Paquette (ankle). ... Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill and Lightning coach Jon Cooper are good friends. They met as youth coaches in Michigan several years ago and coached against each other in junior hockey and in the American Hockey League. ... RW Tomas Jurco was a healthy scratch for Detroit ... D Nikita Nesterov was scratched for Tampa Bay. ... The Lightning beat the Red Wings in a first round Stanley Cup Playoffs series in seven games last season.
Top Game Performances
 
Tampa Bay   Detroit
Nikita Kucherov 1 Points Dylan Larkin 1
Nikita Kucherov 1 Goals Dylan Larkin 1
Tyler Johnson 1 Assists Justin Abdelkader 1
Nikita Kucherov 1 Power Play Goals N/A
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Ben Bishop .931 Save Percentage Jimmy Howard .967
Ben Bishop 27 Saves Jimmy Howard 29
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Tampa Bay 30 1 1-4 3-3 8 36
Detroit 29 2 0-3 3-4 10 28
Upcoming Games
  • Detroit will play their next game on the road against Toronto. The Red Wings have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .333 after a loss.
  • Tampa Bay will play their next game on the road against Buffalo. The Lightning have a W/L % of .429 after a win and .429 after a loss.