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Lightning Just Keeps On Striking |
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It’s one thing to continually take a beating from an opposing team. But the beatings take on an even more personal touch when it’s your best friend’s team doing the beating.
In fact, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper is apparently so accustomed to putting a beating on Jeff Blashill and the Detroit Red Wings that he assigns the task of applying the burn to his underlings.
“Coop doesn’t do much talking,” Blashill explained. “He’s got his sidekick there.”
That would be Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde, formerly the head coach of Detroit’s ECHL affiliate the Toledo Walleye.
“I got another buddy there, Derek Lalonde,” Blashill said. “He’s like the little yip on the side and he likes to yap a lot, like a little dog yaps a lot. No, I’m kind of kidding.”
In reality, there’s not much Blashill can respond with other than to tip his cap to his friend and rival.
“In the end, when you win lots, you can stick your chest out a little bit more and that’s life,” Blashill said. “All we can do about it is go and play great hockey, try to win a hockey game.”
When you add up the numbers between the Lightning, who play host to the Wings on Saturday, and Detroit, the sum total is nothing but pain for the guys wearing the winged wheel jerseys.
Tampa Bay has won 13 straight in the regular season versus the Wings, dating back to Nov. 3, 2105, a 2-1 Detroit win at home. The Wings have recorded only two points during this stretch, posting an overtime and a shootout loss.
If you include the playoffs, Tampa Bay has still won 13 straight. This streak dates back to April 16, 2016, Game 3 of their first-round playoff series in Detroit, when the Wings won 2-0 to record the only Stanley Cup victory of Blashill’s head coaching career.
At Amalie Arena, the news is only a touch less painful. Tampa Bay has won 12 in a row there from the Wings, including playoffs, dating back to Game 5 of their 2015 Stanley Cup opening-round series. Tampa Bay has won 12 in a row at home vs. the Wings in the regular season, going back to a 6-2 Red Wings win on Feb. 17, 2011.
“Over the last number of games, we played them really well, we’ve been right there, had leads in some games, we’ve had games get away from us,” Wings forward Justin Abdelkader said. “It’s always a great challenge, always enjoyed playing those guys. We’ve had some great battles and rivalries with them.
“Right now they’re the top-end team in the league and it’s fun to go out and match yourself up with them, regardless of where you’re at in the standings.”
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