Trending: Wings lose Howard in Jensen's debut

TAMPA - The Red Wings have not had much luck in Tampa the last few years and not much luck against the Lightning in general.
That continued Tuesday night as the Lightning defeated the Wings, 4-1, at Amalie Arena.

The Lightning have a five-game regular-season winning streak against the Wings and an eight-game winning streak against them in Tampa.
1. Jimmy Howard: Howard came into the game with impressive numbers: 1.95 goals-against average and .934 save percentage. Howard appeared to have rounded back into form after returning from a six-game absence with a groin injury. But things took a bad turn for Howard at 5:39 of the second period. Lightning forward Erik Condra, of Trenton, Mich., drove to the net and crashed into Howard. Defenseman Nick Jensen came in to help clear Condra out and ended up landing on top of Howard. Howard was in considerable pain and had to be helped off the ice after making 15 saves on 16 shots. Wings coach Jeff Blashill said that Howard was definitely out Friday with a lower-body injury but the severity of the injury isn't yet known. The Wings will recall goaltender Jared Coreau from the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins.
Quotable: "I take complete blame on that one. The guy I stepped on at the red line got by me and created a 3-on-2 and I hustled back trying to get to the front of the net. I saw they got a shot and kind of panicked, tried to tie the guy up. I got hooked up around him and I ran Jimmy. I'm not really sure what happened. I said, 'I'm sorry, it's completely my fault.' But it's hockey." - Jensen
2. Division games: Most teams in the Metropolitan Division are playing well, much better than the teams in the Atlantic Division. That means the wild card teams are more likely to come from that division and the Wings' best chance to get back into the playoffs is as one of the top teams in the division. In order to do so, they have to start beating teams like the Lightning. After Tuesday's loss, they're 2-7-2 against Atlantic Division teams.
Quotable: "It's obviously not on top where it can be or it should be. Again, it's a long year. You have your ups and downs. We having our down right now but we've got to stick together and get that last win on Friday before Christmas and use the break to kind of rejuvenate everyone and get back to work afterwards." - Thomas Vanek
Quotable II: "I think for me, everything's about solutions. So you can have anger, that drives you. You can be (ticked) off, no doubt about it. I'm (ticked) off, they're (ticked) off. But frustration is not solution-based. So we got to find solutions here. We can be (ticked) off, we can be angry, let's find solutions and that mainly means look in the mirror, how can I be better as an individual, make sure I put the work and the sacrifice in it takes to win at this level." - Blashill
3. Nick Jensen: Jensen finally got to make his NHL debut. Jensen was called up last January but returned to the Griffins without getting into a game. When Mike Green got hurt in last Saturday's win over the Anaheim Ducks, the Wings recalled Jensen. He might not have gotten into a game except defenseman Brian Lashoff took a deflected puck to the mouth in Monday's morning skate in Carolina. The Wings got a late goal on Anthony Mantha's rebound tip-in and Jensen got the first assist.
Quotable: "You're down 4-0, you try to be a little more offensive just to get something generated. Obviously (Henrik) Zetterberg made a great play to pass it to me and I shot it on net. I didn't see what happened after that since I was sliding into the boards but it was cool to be out there for an assist." - Jensen
Quotable II: "I thought Nick Jensen actually played really well, to be honest with you. The one thing Nick Jensen has is lots of guts. He wants to go out and make things happen. I thought he got put in a tough spot on the first one. The one with Jimmy there, there was multiple mistakes, it wasn't just Nick. I'm glad he owns it, that's why he's a good hockey player because he's not afraid to take responsibility and then look at it and say, how can I get better? I thought Nick Jensen played very well, to be honest with you." - Blashill