The Red Wings bring a five-game losing streak into Saturday’s 7 p.m. ET matchup with a Tampa Bay team surging near the top of the power index.
Tampa Bay enters Saturday’s meeting at Benchmark International Arena with a 13-4-2 record, a two-game winning streak and the No. 5 power index; Detroit is 7-10-3, has lost five straight and ranks 26th. That skid includes a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay, which has won the teams’ only head-to-head meeting this season. The Lightning have plenty of finishers: Nikita Kucherov leads with 22 points in 15 games, while Brandon Hagel has 12 goals; Detroit’s Lucas Raymond leads the Red Wings with 15 points in 16 games. The deciding factor could be conversion: Detroit averages a +2.9 shots-per-game differential but a -0.45 goal differential, while Tampa Bay is +4.1 in shots and +0.89 in goals.