The Detroit Red Wings (14-11-7) defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning (20-11-1) 7-4 on Wednesday night in Detroit. It was the second loss in as many nights for Tampa Bay, who also fell to the Maple Leafs in Toronto on Tuesday night.
Brayden Point scored early for Tampa Bay, but the Lightning were then unable to score on a long 5-on-3 power play. After Olli Maatta scored to tie the game 1-1, Alex Killorn answered with a goal late in the first to make it 2-1. Detroit answered with a goal from Michael Rasmussen to tie the game 2-2.
Tied 3-3 heading into the third period, detroit got goals from Elmer Soderblom and Dylan Larkin to make it 5-3. Though Nikita Kucherov scored to make it 5-4, the Red Wings got two empty net goals to pull away with a 7-4 win.
Brian Elliott got the start in net for Tampa Bay in the second night of a back-to-back and made 24 saves on 29 shots against.
The Lightning are now off for the Christmas holiday - they were originally scheduled to play Friday night against the Sabres in Buffalo, but that game has been postponed until March 4th. So the Lightning will next be on the ice at Amalie Arena when they host the Montreael Canadiens on December 28th.
PHOTO COURTESY GETTY IMAGES