Tampa, FL (SportsNetwork.com) – Braydon Coburn broke a scoreless tie early in
the third period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning went on to beat the Detroit Red
Wings 2-0 on Wednesday night in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference
quarterfinal series.
Ben Bishop made 31 saves for his first career playoff shutout and picked up an
assist on Anton Stralman’s empty-net goal that set up a showdown with the Habs
in the second round.
The series will begin Friday in Montreal.
With Bishop absent because of an injury, the Lightning were swept by the
Canadiens in the first round of last year’s playoffs.
Petr Mrazek stopped 15 shots for the Red Wings, who played without two of
their top defensemen. Niklas Kronwall served a suspension for his illegal hit
to the head of Tampa Bay forward Nikita Kucherov in Game 6 and Marek Zidlicky
missed the game because of upper-body injury reported to be concussion-like
symptoms.
The Lightning got a power play 51 seconds into the third period when Danny
DeKeyser was called for a delay of game penalty after shooting the puck over
the glass.
A minute after the power play expired, Ryan Callahan emerged with the puck
from behind the Detroit net and sent a cross-ice pass to Coburn. The late-
season acquisition fired a one-timer from the right circle into the top left
corner, over Mrazek’s right shoulder, at the 3:58 mark.
Bishop moved to his right and absorbed a shot from Henrik Zetterberg on a rush
to preserve the 1-0 lead with 11 minutes remaining.
Stralman sealed the win with 1:18 left. His clearing attempt from below the
goal line in the Tampa Bay zone caromed off the boards and slid right into the
empty net.
The teams had alternated wins in this series through the first six games.
Tampa Bay staved off elimination with a 5-2 victory on Monday.
The Lightning survived an early surge by the Red Wings, who registered six
shots in the game’s opening two minutes.
Bishop looked a little jittery at times in the first period but recorded 14
saves to seven for Mrazek.
Tampa Bay came close to scoring late in the opening frame. Tyler Johnson
skated with Steven Stamkos on a 2-on-1 rush, went around Mrazek and slid the
puck from behind the net out front to Stamkos, but the pass couldn’t be
corralled by the Lightning captain.
In the second period, Bishop strayed from his crease to play a puck in the
slot and it turned into a perilous journey, with Detroit’s Drew Miller getting
to the loose puck first. Fortunately for Bishop, Miller chipped the puck just
wide of the open net.
Detroit had another prime opportunity with about two minutes to play in the
second period. Tomas Tatar lost control of the puck on a breakaway as he
went to deke Bishop.
The shots were 23-12 in favor of the Red Wings after two periods.
Game Notes
Coburn has three career playoff goals, including two in Game 7s … Tampa Bay
improved to 4-1 in Game 7s, while Detroit fell to 14-11 … Three Lightning
players maintained unblemished records in Game 7s: Stralman (6-0), Brian Boyle
(5-0) and Matt Carle (4-0) … Stamkos, who ranked second with 43 goals during
the regular season, didn’t score in the series … Tampa Bay forward Brenden
Morrow participated in his 100th career playoff game.
