Cam Talbot made 28 saves for his 33rd NHL shutout, leading the Detroit Red Wings to a 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at Little Caesars Arena on Saturday.
“I thought we defended well, but your goaltender has to be your best player every night, and (Talbot) was that tonight,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said.
“We lost 5-1 in Tampa 10 days ago, which wasn’t on Cam at all, but I knew he wanted this one.”
This marked the first time the Lightning had been shut out since a 5-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 14, 2023.
“We need to put the puck in the open net,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. “Let’s be honest – that’s what we missed.
The goalie made some spectacular saves, but we had two six-by-fours where it was shocking to miss. I think the whole building was shocked those didn’t go in.”
Marco Kasper and Michael Rasmussen scored for Detroit (23-21-5), who have now won two games in a row after a three-game losing streak. Talbot earned his second shutout of the season.
“Tonight proves we can win games any way we need to right now,” Talbot said. “We can put five or six on the board or we can make one stand up.”
Andrei Vasilevskiy made 29 saves for the Lightning (26-19-3), who won 4-3 in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday.
“We lost three of four on this road trip, which is unacceptable,” Cooper said. “But if I rewind and think about how we played, there are a couple games where I’m awestruck we didn’t get any points. It’s clear we are a little snakebit.”
Nikita Kucherov had his point streak ended at 11 games. He finished with a game-high seven shots on goal and hit the post late in the first period.
Kasper scored at 9:55 of the second period, spinning to tip J.T. Compher’s pass in off the post.
“We’re winning games, which gives everyone some confidence,” said Kasper, who has eight points (five goals, three assists) in nine games. “It’s fun when the puck goes in, but winning games is all we are trying to do.”
Talbot stopped Brayden Point from the slot with 1:53 left, with the puck disappearing into his gear. After a search by the officials, it was found inside his right leg pad.
“That’s a team with a lot of winning pedigree over there, and they know how to pull out these tight games,” Talbot said. “Sometimes you just have to weather the storm and get lucky, and that’s what we did tonight.”
Talbot also made a pad save on Anthony Cirelli’s rebound attempt, and Victor Hedman missed an open net before Rasmussen scored into the empty net at 19:32.
“We had some great looks, especially at 6-on-5, but (Talbot) made some saves and I missed a wide-open net,” Hedman said.
“It’s disappointing to come out of here with no points, but we probably played a lot better today than we did yesterday. That’s just how the game goes.”
