The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings in game 1 of the 1st round of the playoffs. Nikita Kucherov had a great night with two goals and an assist. Both teams seemed to ignite the hatred for each other from last year. 
Tampa started off slow as it took them five minutes before they registered the first shot of the game. However, it didn’t stop them as 6:23 into the first period they found the net with Nikita Kucherov getting his 12th career playoff goal. Tampa kept the lead through the first period.
Detroit found the scoreboard just over two minutes into the first period with Mike Green netting his 10th career playoff goal, his first as a Wing. It wasn’t long before Detroit took the lead with Justin Abdelkader getting a tip on Kyle Quincey’s shot. Detroit was definitely sparked half way through the second period they were outshooting Tampa 22-11. It didn’t stop the Lightning however as Kucherov poked in his second of the game. This seemed to spark the team’s physical play and after whistle actions.
The final period saw Tampa score a goal as Victor Hedman scored a goal that was reviewed by the coach challenge and waived off – Jonathan Drouin got into the zone too early. It didn’t seem to matter as two minutes later with Alex Killorn showing off his hand-eye coordination and batting one out of the air past Howard. Tampa had the advantage and stellar play from Ben Bishop kept Detroit off the scoresheet again.
The three stars of the game was Tampa’s first line with Kucherov earning the first star with two goals and an assist. Tyler Johnson was the second star with two assists and Alex Killorn took the third star with a goal and an assist. Both teams struggled with Powerplay as Detroit went 0-5 and Tampa went 0-4. 
The young kids struggled for both teams as Dylan Larkin and Jonathan Drouin both seemed a little out of their element. Drouin took two penalties and was around all the rough stuff. Larkin didn’t seem like himself either as he fell a lot and couldn’t find that offensive stark.
The next game with be Friday at 7pm at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.