The Tampa Bay Lightning grabbed a dramatic Game 1 victory and are ready for another strong performance tonight. (Getty)
The Detroit Red Wings have one goal in mind on Friday night; find a way to get the puck by Ben Bishop.
Of course, that’s easier said than done.
After all, Bishop is a fairly imposing figure in the Tampa Bay Lightning net. He also made 34 saves in Wednesday night’s 3-2 victory, including an impressive two minute performance at the end of regulation when Detroit pulled its goal tender for an extra man.
All those things considered, it won’t be easy for the Red Wings to even up the series tonight. Still, that’s exactly what Detroit has to do.
Puck drop for Game 2 is slated for 7 p.m. ET. Keep reading for a look at all the details heading into the matchup, including odds and live streaming options:
Date: Friday, April 16
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
TV Channel: CNBC, CBC, TVA, FSDT, FSFL
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra
Odds: Tampa Bay – 153 via OddsShark
Preview: Ben Bishop was pretty impressive in Game 1.
The Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender made over 30 saves in the opening matchup of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals and even stopped a potential game-tying tip from Pavel Datsyuk in the final minutes of regulation.
But he didn’t do it alone.
The Lightning’s defensive effort was an enormous factor in their 3-2 victory on Wednesday and no one was stronger in the zone than Victor Hedman. The defenseman finished plus-2 with 28:56 of ice time and came up big in the first period when he cleared a puck out of the crease while Bishop was out of position.
“As the game went on [Hedman] got better and we got better,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper told NHL.com. “He leads the charge for us. He’s blessed with size and skating ability and skill.”
Tampa Bay’s defense will have to step up once again in Game 2, balancing out an offensive attack that is starting to hit its stride. In fact, the line of Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson and Nikita Kucherov racked up three goals and four assists in Game 1.
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