The Detroit Red Wings said all the right things after their regulation loss to the NHL-worst Nashville Predators on Wednesday evening.
However, the same kind of defensive miscues that hurt them during that setback were once again at the forefront of Friday afternoon's tilt against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Lightning took advantage of multiple giveaways by the Red Wings and made life hard for goaltender John Gibson, who allowed five goals as part of their 6-3 loss at Little Caesars Arena.
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It was also the fourth time in the last five games that Detroit has allowed at least four goals against. With the loss, the Red Wings, who briefly were the top team in the Atlantic Division earlier this month, fell to 13-11-1 and are now in a fifth-place tie in the division standings.
Detroit found the back of the net first in the opening 20 minutes of play after J.T. Compher beat goaltender Andrei Vasilevsky with a quick blocker-side shot from the face-off circle.
But the Lightning knotted the score later in the frame after a blast from the point by defenseman Darren Raddysh beat Gibson through the five-hole.
Gibson’s five-hole was exposed in the opening seconds of the second period when Gage Goncalves stripped the puck from Albert Johansson near the top of the slot and snapped a shot through his pads.
Less than three minutes later, another Detroit defensive miscue set up the first of Yanni Gourde’s two goals on the afternoon. Gourde had multiple whacks at the puck during a goal-mouth scramble before he got the last one to successfully go in.
Detroit gained some life after Michael Rasmussen poked a loose puck past Vasilevsky a moment after Compher's shot rang off the post, but Gourde capitalized by firing the puck past Gibson, who wasn't properly set after Nate Danielson inadvertently knocked Tampa's Zemgus Girgensons into him.
A quick shot through the five-hole of Vasilevsky by Dylan Larkin late in the period cut the deficit to one, but Tampa would once again take advantage of a defensive miscue by a Red Wings defenseman to restore their two-goal bulge.
Jake Guentzel's deflection goal at 12:37 of the third period following a turnover by Moritz Seider effectively put the game out of reach; the Lightning then added insult to injury with an empty-net tally from Brandon Hagel at 17:13.
The goals-against average and save percentage of Gibson, which were both already at pedestrian levels coming into today's game, weren't helped after he allowed five goals on 27 shots. Meanwhile, Vasilevskiy picked up the win by making 33 saves.
The Red Wings will now travel to Boston for the first of two straight matchups against the Bruins, who will be in Detroit on Dec. 2.
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