The Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning will meet in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second straight season. The Lightning prevailed in seven games last year, but will face a Red Wings squad without two integral players - Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman.
The teams split the season series 2-2, with Tampa Bay winning the last two meetings in February and March.
These will be Pavel Datsyuk's final playoffs in the NHL, so here's to some magic happening.
Tale of the tape
| Lightning | Statistic | Red Wings |
|---|---|---|
| 97 | Points | 93 |
| 2.7 (12th) | Goals per game | 2.5 (22nd) |
| 2.4 (4th) | Goals against | 2.7 (17th) |
| 15.8% (28th) | Power play | 18.8% (12th) |
| 84% (7th) | Penalty kill | 81.6% (14th) |
| 52.2% (6th) | Corsi | 51.7% (9th) |
| 7.9% (8th) | 5-on-5 SH% | 7% (22nd) |
| 92.9% (10th) | 5-on-5 SV% | 92.6% (14th) |
| Kucherov: 66 | Leading scorer | Zetterberg: 50 |
Key players
Jimmy Howard
The Red Wings turned to Jimmy Howard down the stretch to run their consecutive playoff appearances streak to 25, and even though they scrapped in, it appears Howard's the man in the crease.
Make no mistake: Howard did not have a good season. He played only 37 games, his .906 save percentage the worst of his career. But he was big in April, posting a .916 in five big-game starts. Petr Mrazek, who saw the crease for the majority of the season, became the backup after a nightmare March that saw him record a 3.72 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage.
The biggest question facing the Red Wings: Can Howard get it done? He played only 20 minutes in last year's series, Mrazek carrying the load.
Tyler Johnson
Tyler Johnson's shooting percentage dropped from 14.3 percent to 8.4 percent this season, and he scored only 14 times after a career-high 29 goals in 2014-15. Without Stamkos, the onus is going to fall on Johnson to provide secondary scoring behind leading scorer Nikita Kucherov.
Johnson was brilliant in last year's playoffs, scoring 13 goals and adding 10 assists in 26 games as the Lightning marched to the Stanley Cup Final. He needs to do it again.
It's been a trying season, and Johnson was on the wrong end of a questionable cross-check in the Lightning's regular-season finale, so he could be hurting going into Game 1. Whether he overcomes, and whether he can put a disappointing 69 games behind him, will be a storyline to watch.
Jonathan Drouin
Jonathan Drouin's back, and scored in both games he played in after his recall. He logged 15:41 in his first game, and 19:27 in his second.
Drouin played in only six Lightning playoff games last season, going pointless and averaging only 10 minutes of ice per game. If he's given a top-six role this time around, and can contribute, perhaps the damaged relationship between the 21-year-old and his team can be repaired, after all.
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