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Lightning keep it cool, learn from last year's playoff loss to force Game 7 with Red Wings

DETROIT — A year ago, the Tampa Bay Lightning were swept in the first round of the playoffs. Now here were the Bolts, after the best regular season in franchise history, facing elimination in the first round again. An octopus flew from the stands, a Detroit tradition. The fans roared, smelling an upset.

But the Bolts didn’t buckle Monday night. They beat the Red Wings, 5-2, and forced a Game 7 – making plays, scoring goals, killing penalties, keeping their composure. They took a 3-0 lead. They didn’t lose it as they paraded to the box. They didn’t lose it after Nikita Kucherov took a nasty hit from Niklas Kronwall, which didn’t draw a whistle but could draw a hearing from the NHL’s department of player safety. They didn’t lose it when the Wings cut it to 3-2 early in the third period.

“Do we play the way we did tonight last year?” said Lightning coach Jon Cooper. “Probably not. You have to go through it. I’ve used this line a few times: You can take the driver’s exam, pass that. It doesn’t make you a good driver. You’ve still got to get behind the wheel. Last year’s experience I think really helped us tonight.”

Tampa Bay learned a lesson from last year's playoff exit and kept it calm, cool and collected in Game 6. (Getty)
Tampa Bay learned a lesson from last year's playoff exit and kept it calm, cool and collected in Game 6. (Getty)

The final exam isn’t until Wednesday night. But the Wings aren’t in the driver’s seat anymore and might lose Kronwall, their best defenseman.

The story of the last three games was how the Wings had stifled the Bolts, who had the best offense in the league in the regular season. The Wings shut them out in Game 3. They shut them out through 54 minutes in Game 4 – only to blow a 2-0 lead and lose in overtime. Then they shut them out again in Game 5. They did it with structure and goaltending. If you made it through the thicket, you had to put the puck past Petr Mrazek.

Cooper said the Bolts needed a bounce, a break, “a puck to go in off somebody’s butt or something.” Instead, they capitalized on Detroit mistakes and broke through with beautiful goals, Lightning goals, the kind they scored all season. Stretch pass, quick pass, and Tyler Johnson skated around a defenseman and roofed one. A rush, a pass, and Jason Garrison fired one into the left side of the net before Mrazek could recover. They would have widened their lead if not for Mrazek, who robbed Brian Boyle with only his paddle between the puck and an open net, then Steven Stamkos with his right pad at the side of the net. Then they widened it, anyway, when Johnson scored his second of the game.

“I thought from the opening draw we were ready,” said Johnson, who has six of the Bolts’ 15 goals in this series. “With your back against the wall, you have to be like that.”

Tomas Tatar responded for the Wings midway through the second period, and then Kronwall smoked Kucherov. Kronwall is notorious for creeping up along the left-wing boards in the offensive zone, catching opponents with their heads down and delivering brutal hits with his back turned. Among his victims: Havlat, Martin. Voracek, Jakub. Kronwall has been able to find the edge and not go over it. He has never been suspended. He felt this hit was clean, too, and the momentum carried him and made it look worse than it was. There was no penalty on the play. This time, though, he didn’t turn his back as much as usual. He launched into the hit. He led with his forearm up high.

Tyler Johnson has six goals in the series, including a pair in the do-or-die game for the Lightning. (Getty)
Tyler Johnson has six goals in the series, including a pair in the do-or-die game for the Lightning. (Getty)

Kucherov returned to the game and didn’t complain. “He made a hit,” he said. “I’m not going to cry now. It’s a part of the game. That’s why we play here.” Cooper didn’t complain, either. He said he didn’t see the hit and added: “The refs didn’t call a penalty, so it must have been OK.” But that was smart. Cooper complained about the officiating entering the game, because he felt the Wings were interfering, and promptly watched his team take 11 minors and give the Wings seven power plays. Bottom line: Kronwall could have been called for charging. He could be suspended for charging with significant head contact.

Tatar scored again early in the third period, and the Bolts quickly took another penalty. Joe Louis Arena rocked. The Bolts killed the penalty. The Wings kept pressuring, and goaltender Ben Bishop looked shaky, letting a shot glance off his glove, giving up some fat rebounds. The Bolts stuck with it, and finally, with 5:09 to go, Alex Killorn forced a turnover, streaked in and scored. It was 4-2, and the rink was silent. Thousands of fans left even before the empty-netter.

“We just had a quiet calm about us the whole night,” Cooper said. “There was no panic – never – on our bench.”

The Bolts need better discipline. They could use a goal from Stamkos, who scored 43 times in the regular season, second-most in the league, but hasn’t scored in this series. They should remember this: two years ago, the Wings were the underdogs in the first round against the Anaheim Ducks. They went on the road for Game 7 and won. They went on the road for Game 7 in the next round and lost to the Chicago Blackhawks, but it took an overtime goal to beat them. They’ve been through it. They’ve been behind the wheel.

“It may surprise people on the outside,” said Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg, “but we’re looking forward to Game 7.”

But the Wings should know this: the Bolts are looking forward to it, too.

“All the guys kept saying, ‘Two of the greatest words put beside each other in any sport – Game 7,’ ” Cooper said. “That’s what we wanted. Game 7.”

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