Tampa, Florida: Braydon Coburn broke a scoreless deadlock early in the third period and Ben Bishop made 31 saves to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 on Wednesday in Game 7 of the first-round series.
Ryan Callahan set up Coburn’s third goal in 79 career post-season games with a pass through the slot to the top of the right circle, where the Tampa Bay defenseman sent a shot over goalie Petr Mrazek’s right shoulder.
Anton Stralman added an empty-net goal with 1:18 remaining, ensuring the Lightning would win their first Game 7 at home since they beat Calgary in the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.
Tampa Bay, who came back from a 3-2 series deficit, advanced to the Eastern Conference semi-finals against Montreal. The Canadiens host Game 1 on Friday night.
The Red Wings outshot the Lightning 31-17, but Bishop wasn’t tested a lot in posting his first career play-off shutout. Coburn was obtained from Philadelphia in a trade March 2 and had one goal in 43 games for Tampa Bay during the regular season.
Tyler Johnson’s third two-goal game of the series helped the Lightning even the series with a 5-2 victory in Detroit on Monday night. With Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall suspended for Game 7 for a hit on Nikita Kucherov, the Lightning felt good heading back to Amalie Arena, where they posted the NHL’s best home record this season.
But after winning the series opener, as well as shutting out the Lightning in Game 5, on the road, Detroit liked its chances of advancing, too.
The Red Wings outshot the Lightning 14-7 in the first period, but had few real scoring opportunities early against Bishop.
