*Photo from MLive.com*
In a tough divisional matchup, the young kids stepped up and beat the veterans. Michael Rasmussen had a 4 point game, Dylan Larkin had a 3 point showing, and the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 7-4 victory on Wednesday night in Detroit.
Detroit entered the game with a 6 game, 0-4-2 losing streak, and they were playing the always tough Lightning. The young Red Wings got it done, putting up 7 goals. Rasmussen's two goals and two assists to go with Larkin's two goals and an assist led the Red Wings, while David Perron had two assists.
Red Wings head coach Derek Lalonde said after the game that "I'm happy with this result, because anyone who saw us in this stretch knows we've been better than 0-4-2. We've been tied going into the third three or four times lately without being able to finish it off, but today we did."
Brayden Point started the scoring for the Lightning, giving them a 1-0 lead just 1:29 into the game. Olli Maatta then tied the game for the Red Wings with his 3rd goal of the season, assisted by Pius Suter. Alex Killorn scored to give the Lightning a 2-1 lead before Rasmussen tied the game 2-2 after one period.
Later on in the second period, it was Larkin who started the scoring for the Red Wings, giving them a 3-3 lead with his 11th goal of the season, assisted by Perron and Rasmussen. Ross Colton then scored an unassisted goal for the Lightning, coming 13:15 into the period to re-tie the game 3-3 with one period to go.
Elmer Soderblom and Larkin started the scoring in the 3rd period, building the Red Wings lead to 5-3. Nikita Kucherov scored for the Lightning to cut the deficit to 5-4 with his 13th goal of the season. The Red Wings then sealed the win with a pair of empty net goals, with Perron and Rasmussen scoring to secure the 7-4 win.
Larkin said of the win that "It feels really good. Especially against that team in our division, we had a great performance. Things didn't go our way the whole game, but we responded at every moment and stuck together. We played hard, did a good job on the penalty kill and it was just a massive two points for our hockey team."
Getting the start in goal for the Red Wings was Ville Husso, who picked up the win to improve to 12-6-5 on the season. Husso stopped 34 of the 38 shots on goal he faced, which was good for a .895 save percentage in the win.
Starting for the Lightning was Brian Elliott on the other side of the ice. Elliott made 24 saves on the 29 shots on goal the Red Wings had, recording a .828 save percentage. His record dropped to 7-2-0 in 9 starts so far this season.
Asked about the loss, Colton said that "This definitely adds to the frustration, because last night's game was completely unacceptable. We talked about it in the locker room, and we really wanted to come out here with a strong showing, especially with Friday canceled. This is a sour note to end on."
Up next, the Red Wings get back in action with a Friday night road showdown against the Ottawa Senators, with Husso expected to start. The Lightning don't get back in action until after the Christmas break, playing the Montreal Canadiens on December 28, with Andrei Vasilevskiy the expected starter.
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