Red Wings close out road swing with matchup against nemesis Tampa Bay

Yzerman faces his former team.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Red Wings close out road swing with matchup against nemesis Tampa Bay
Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/Zuma

The Detroit Red Wings (9-27-3) lost a disappointing matchup last night against the Florida Panthers, blowing a 3-1 lead and falling by a 5-4 final score. Tonight, they’ll head to Tampa Bay for a matchup against the Lightning (19-13-4).

And for the first time since 2010, Steve Yzerman will be on the red and white side of things. The former Lightning general manager ran the show in Tampa Bay from 2010 until last September when he announced he was stepping down from the position; he officially returned to the Red Wings this past April. 

And for the Red Wings, they’ll be looking to break a massive skid against the Lightning. Detroit hasn’t earned two points against their Atlantic Division rivals since November 3 of 2015, a 2-1 victory at Joe Louis Arena. 

Tampa Bay’s 15 game winning streak against Detroit is their longest winning streak against a single team, and their 13 game home winning streak over them is the 23rd longest in NHL history. 

Detroit will be without forward Valtteri Filppula, who suffered an upper body injury against Florida. However, they may have goaltender Jonathan Bernier available, who has been out since suffering an injury against the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 21. 
In Filppula’s absence, Brendan Perlini will be back in the lineup. He had been a healthy scratch in three of the previous six games. 

Detroit will then return home to face the San Jose Sharks on New Years Eve at Little Caesars Arena. 

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