Mishkin's Extra Shift: Lightning 7, Red Wings 6 - OT

Unlike on Tuesday against Pittsburgh, the Lightning played with high urgency and compete level. They also showed great resiliency, both in terms of their ability to rally from three separate three-goal deficits and to overcome tough calls that didn't go their way. The result was an exciting, dramatic, come-from-behind victory, one that leveled their record at 1-1-0.

It was clear from the opening shift that the Lightning were going to be playing on their toes against Detroit. They dominated much of the possession in the first period, outshooting the Wings, 15-8. During the opening 20 minutes, they successfully killed off an early four-minute penalty. They also recorded more of the scoring chances. But they fell behind, 1-0, when Robby Fabbri's left circle shot came at Andrei Vasilevskiy like a knuckleball. It caromed off his glove and dropped down behind him in the crease. Dylan Larkin won the race to the loose puck and slammed it in. So despite what had been a fairly strong overall period for the Lightning, they found themselves down by a goal after 20 minutes.
The second period featured six goals between the teams and plenty of controversy. It also featured some sloppy team defense from the Lightning. Tyler Bertuzzi, who scored all three Red Wings goals in the frame, added to Detroit's lead at the 12-second mark. On a one-on-two rush, he wedged his way in between the D and scored from the hashmarks. Bertuzzi's second goal came six seconds after a delay-of-game penalty to Andrej Sustr ended. The Lightning lost coverage on Adam Erne, who fired an open shot from the slot off the crossbar. The rebound hit Vasilevskiy and bounced perfectly to Bertuzzi, who had established position at the top of the crease. He easily knocked it in, making the score 3-0. The Lightning were incensed to be shorthanded in the first place, however, because Sustr had been in the neutral zone when he batted the puck out of play.
They answered that goal on the next shift. Victor Hedman raced into the offensive zone and, from the left circle, wired a cross-ice pass that Palat one-timed into the net at 8:08.
About three and a half minutes later, Mathieu Joseph checked Larkin against the boards in the Lightning's defensive zone. Larkin then sucker punched Joseph in the face. With Joseph down, Rutta grabbed Larkin, who had dropped his gloves after delivering the punch to Joseph. Bertuzzi came at Rutta. The officials, who hadn't called a penalty initially on the original hit, eventually decided to give minor penalties to Joseph and Rutta. Although Larkin received a five-minute match penalty, there was no additional call on Bertuzzi. So for the first two minutes of Larkin's match penalty, the Wings got a four-on-three power play. Bertuzzi, whom the officials kept out of the box, scored his hat trick goal during that power play, extending the Detroit lead to 4-1.
Still, the Lightning had a three-minute major pending and they were able to cash in twice before it ended. Steven Stamkos ripped a pair of one-timers past Alex Nedeljkovic, pulling the Lightning back to within a goal.
More defensive miscues hurt the Lightning in first half of the third period. Moments after another power play ended, they yielded a fourth goal to Bertuzzi. He came out of the penalty box just as the puck was sent into the Lightning's end. Vlad Namestnikov was rushing to the front of the net, so when the Lightning defenders converged on him, Bertuzzi walked out in front and wristed the puck off Vasilevskiy's right shoulder and in. Less than three minutes later, Namestnikov was left open in the slot and he buried a rebound to give the Wings their third three-goal lead of the night.
The score remained 6-3 until the final seven minutes. Then the Lightning began their final rally. After receiving a pass from Erik Cernak, Ross Colton was just outside the crease and he tucked a shot past Nedeljkovic at 13:43. When Fabbri tripped Anthony Cirelli at 15:49, the Lightning went back on the power play. They pulled Vasilevskiy so they had a six-on-four advantage. Following a Brayden Point face-off win, Stamkos slid the puck back to Hedman at the center point. Hedman had room to skate to the high slot and he faked a shot. That move froze Nedeljkovic. But instead of shooting, Hedman passed the puck to Nikita Kucherov, who blasted a one-timer into what was essentially an open net.
One minute and sixteen seconds later, the Lightning tied it. Again pulling Vasilevskiy for the extra attacker, the Lightning dumped the puck in deep behind the Detroit net. Nedeljkovic stopped the puck, but instead of playing it himself, he left it for Danny DeKeyser. DeKeyser attempted to rim it around the boards, but Hedman swooped in to the right corner and intercepted the puck. He hurried a backhand feed in front and Killorn slipped it in before Nedeljkovic could get back to the crease.
In overtime, the Lightning put on a puck possession clinic. They won the opening face-off and held onto the puck. Before Palat's winning goal, which came two minutes and 43 seconds into OT, the Red Wings only touched the puck once. That came right before the goal, when Bertuzzi managed to clear his defensive zone. Before that, Bertuzzi, Nick Leddy, and Fabbri were stuck out on the ice, as the Lightning maintained possession. The Wings finally got three fresh players out after Bertuzzi's clear, but it didn't matter. Hedman rushed the puck to the right circle and fed Palat, who gained position on Pius Suter. Palat tapped the puck in to win the game.
The Lightning's compete level and resiliency were big parts of this victory. So was their power play, which tallied three times. In their first two games this season, the Lightning have tallied four sixth-attacker goals. The two they scored tonight helped them rally and tie the game.
So even though they made some significant defensive mistakes, there was a lot to like about the Lightning's game. Now they head to Washington looking for their second consecutive win.
Lightning Radio Three Stars of the Game:
1. Victor Hedman - Lightning, Four assists. 2. Nikita Kucherov - Lightning. Goal and three assists. 3. Tyler Bertuzzi - Red Wings. Four goals.