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Bishop withstands Detroit shot barrage as Lightning wins Game 7
Steven Stamkos didn’t score a goal in Tampa’s first round series against Detroit. It didn’t matter for the Lightning. Tampa withstood a Red Wings onslaught in Game 7 at Amalie Arena to beat Detroit 2-0 and possibly end Mike Babcock’s career in Detroit.
Stamkos may have been goalless, but then again, so was Red Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, who matched the Lightning captain in futility with just three assists of his own.
Braydon Coburn scored the game-winning goal, firing a shot past Detroit rookie goaltender Petr Mrazek at the 3:58 mark of the third period. It was enough for the Lightning, who leaned mega-heavily on goaltender Ben Bishop. He made 31 saves while Mrazek stopped 15 of 16 Tampa shots on goal.
“It was a seven-game series, but Bish took command of this game,’’ (Tampa coach Jon) Cooper said. “A lot of the press in this series was talking about the other guy (Detroit goaltender Petr Mrazek) and nobody was talking about Bish. Well, now they are talking about Bish.’’
Tampa will play the Montreal Canadiens in Round 2 … and Tommy Wiseau’s bracket is destroyed. That’s what happens when you pick Detroit for comparisons to New Orleans. Just kidding Tommy, you still rule.
Anyway … Coburn's goal please!
The Lightning looked hesitant and struggled for most of the game, their puck possession numbers were poor to the Red Wings’. Detroit probably would have won the game if not for the heroics of Bishop. It’s fascinating that the Red Wings carried the play as much as they did. Detroit was a bit shorthanded. Defenseman Niklas Krownall (suspended) and Marek Zidlicky (concussion) were both out of this game.
Tampa’s win moves them out of the opening round for the first time under head coach Jon Cooper. But the big story was, and is Babcock. He’s a coaching free agent and hasn’t given any indication as to whether he will return to Detroit. Babcock coached an excellent series, and showed his overall importance as a bench boss. His team had less depth, speed and goaltending and still dominated Game 7, just coming a bounce or two from winning the series.
Will he stay with Detroit? Has his time there run his course? Will he go to Edmonton to coach Connor McDavid or Buffalo to coach Jack Eichel – presuming neither pulls a ‘Lindros’ and opts to leverage a move elsewhere. Or Toronto where he will probably get carte blanche to do whatever he wants.
Babcock didn't want to talk about his future after the 2-0 loss Wednesday at Amalie Arena to the Tampa Bay Lightning, which saw the Wings exit the first round after seven games.
Babcock said he'd "be happy to talk about any of that," when the Wings clean out their lockers in the next few days.
Even if his team lost, he left the building a winner.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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