Detroit Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin led by example scoring two goals to snap the team’s six-game losing streak on Wednesday night. The Michigan squad defeated the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 at Little Caesars Arena.
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The Wings were looking for solutions, and the opportunity was good against the “Bolts”, the men of head coach Derek Lalonde had defeated on December 6 before starting their unfortunate series.
Larkin gave the team a 3-2 lead early in the second period, then added the winning net midway through the third period. The American hurt the Lightning very badly, but especially goalkeeper Brian Elliott, who seemed weak on a shot with little angle from the center player.
Tampa Bay wasn’t going to let the Red Wings off the hook. Nikita Kucherov closed the gap to put pressure on, but David Perron hit the target with an empty net, assisted by Larkin. Michael Rasmussen, with his second of the game, also shook the ropes of an abandoned cage.
Olli Maatta and Elmer Soderblom were the other goalscorers for the home side, while Brayden Point, Alex Killorn and Ross Colton replied. It’s not for lack of trying on the Lightning side, but the players came up against goaltender Ville Husso, who made 34 saves.
The Devils play a trick on the Panthers
Like the Red Wings, the New Jersey Devils needed to snap a six-game losing streak. They got there by beating the Florida Panthers 4-2.
Jesper Bratt flickered the lantern twice to tie the score each time. Yegor Sharangovich deftly deflected a Jonas Siegenthaler blue-line shot to put the Devils ahead for good in the third period.
MacKenzie Blackwood is back with the big club after a stint in the American League. Defeated the day before by the Carolina Hurricanes, the 26-year-old goalkeeper rebounded by blocking 34 shots from the “Cats”.
Eric Staal, he is starting to find his scoring reflexes with the Panthers. After being shut out in his first 21 games of the season, the former Hurricanes captain scored three times in December, and most importantly, in two consecutive games after his success on Monday against the Boston Bruins. Staal also didn’t have a point until this month. He now has eight in 11 duels.
Eetu Luostarinen also scored for Florida, and Tomas Tatar completed the scoring in an empty net.